Like so many shops across the country, Gray Auto Parts, a NAPA affiliate, gets its name from the town it serves, this one in the mountainous northeast corner of Tennessee. But it distinguishes itself by staying in touch with its community through customer service. Of course, 25 years in an area doesn’t hurt, but according to Chad Drain, the company’s co-owner and operations manager, “One of the biggest ways for us [to do this] is just simply the product knowledge that our countermen have, knowing the product and its capabilities and just being able to help that customer with whatever problem they’re having.”
Such knowledge is obtained through ASE training, NAPA’s Fast Track training and factory-issued updates, which are discussed during monthly product knowledge meetings, which Drain says they conduct totally on their own initiative.
Outside of the store the company maintains its link to Gray by sponsoring little league teams in football, baseball and basketball, as well as a “Throw for Cash” giveaway during high school home football games. “We throw out NAPA logo footballs at the beginning of the second quarter with tickets taped to them,” Drain explains. “Then we draw three tickets out, and those contestants come down at halftime and throw a football through a target at 10 yards for like $100.”
Humble beginnings
The company got its start in 1980, when Drain’s grandfather, Basil McGee, opened Gray Auto Parts as an independent. “He spent 33 and a half years working for a Ford dealership,” says Drain. “When he decided to retire, his mindset was to open a little parts store as a part-time hobby, but it just exploded; we’ve been very blessed.”
Their first location was small by today’s standards — 900 sq. feet. Drain, only 12 at the time, would help stock parts. “My grandfather would occasionally let me wait on a customer. That’s kind of how I learned the business, watching from behind the scenes.”
By 1986 Gray Auto Parts had moved to their current location on Center Street, which at that time was around 3,200 sq. feet. In February of 2002, they joined the NAPA program. “We felt like their program was the best for us. Probably about six months after that we added another 3,600 sq. feet of warehouse space.”
Flying the flag
“There are a lot of independents still out there that buy and do well without any affiliation,” continues Drain, “but it’s a huge struggle, and it’s great to have the offerings that NAPA has: their Autocare programs and different programs you can offer to your customers, both wholesale and retail.
“Traditionally, NAPA has been a wholesale program; [their stores] were traditional jobbers and that was the way they went to market, but they’re making huge steps to get geared more to a retail market: friendlier retail sales area, more training, specializing in having more retail items. As far as their sales specials, they’re driving some of their monthly sales toward retail customers, while they’re updating their wholesale programs, too.”
With retail a crucial factor in Gray’s decision-making, another thing Drain and the team looked at was the quality of NAPA’s parts. “They share common suppliers with some of your discount stores,” says Drain, “but they have a lot more offerings as far as availability, and of course the quality, and more simply, name recognition.”
And while their store follows a typical NAPA floor plan, they have customized it to cater to the semi-rural Gray market, allotting space for the farm and agricultural trade that’s still a noteworthy part of their business.
Growth under way
As for their growth plans, Drain and his father Sam, who is the other co-owner and takes care of outside sales, have recently opened a new store in Blountville, a rural community about 15 miles to the north. “As far as going into a market and understanding the customers there,” explains Drain, “we felt that (Blountville) matched up the best for us. Two months into our operation, we’re working hard to be on a first name basis with our customers there.”
While they have three full-time employees and one part-time employee behind the counter at their store in Gray, two counterpeople staff the new Blountville store, while each store has two deliverymen who also handle inventory control. “One (of the counterpeople at the new store) is an existing employee from here,” says Drain. “He’s actually going to be the store’s manager. NAPA has a great training program as well that we offer to our guys. And we try to participate in all of the ASE programs that are available for parts specialists.”
Started as a hobby, this family-run business has done a remarkable job of negotiating its way through a maelstrom of tough times, all the while maintaining its independent status and its service to the community which lent the company its name.
The Vital Stats
Years in business: 25 years
Growth plans: A new 8,000-sq.-foot facility in a nearby town.
Number of employees: 10 total: six in Gray, Tenn.; four in Blountville, Tenn.
Wholesale/retail ratio: 50/50
Snapshot of Gray Auto Parts: Founded in 1980, independent until 1986, the store survived a whirlwind of buyouts in the parts supplier market.
Affiliation: NAPA
Competition: Advance Auto Parts, CARQUEST
Location/Facility size: 6,800 sq. feet
