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Mar 21, 2008 6:53 am US/Mountain
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Hubcap Annie Says Goodbye To Denver Business
DENVER (CBS4) ―
After 26 years in business, a Denver icon is hanging up her hubcaps. Jane Withers, also known as Hubcap Annie, plans to close her Colfax store next month.
CBS4's Brooke Wagner grew up collecting classic hub caps with her dad prompting her interest in profiling Denver's own hub cap queen for Breakfast with Brooke.
Jane Withers is a former nurse and pharmaceutical salesperson. She got the idea to sell hub caps from a co-worker. In 1982, she left Arkansas in a truck filled with 600 hub caps, and it took her a week to set up shop in Denver. She called it the biggest risk she's ever taken.
"I didn't know what I was doing, but I built this store up. I have some skills. People say, that's great, you've got a great story ... especially when they hear all of it," Withers said.
That story includes a history of drug and alcohol abuse, weight issues, and a brush with the law. Withers has turned those bumps in the road into material for public speaking events. She hopes others can learn from her experiences.
"I was just waiting for that hand to go up in the audience saying, 'Could you tell us about that time you were arrested for a felony for, you know, hot hub caps?" Withers said.
Withers became entrenched in the Denver business community, as a pioneer with the Denver Women's Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Rotary Club. One wall of her store, "the Power Wall," is covered with pictures of famous faces. But people in Denver may know Withers best from her billboards and commercials, in which she donned her signature Viking costume.
"I'd much rather be in a parade dressed in a Viking outfit ... with my friends and we had a throne. It was just so tacky. We had hub caps on the side, but everybody loved it," Withers said.
When Withers first came to town, she called all of the Denver television stations, inviting them to her new store. Channel 4 was the only one to show.
"I've had a lot of good times with this thing. It's sad. I've cried a lot," Withers said.
Withers has been holding weekend garage sales to sell her inventory. She now plans to work in fundraising or marketing in Denver.
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