NAPA nabs auto parts business.

• Author: Collins, Gloria
• Position: NAPA auto parts stores in Alaska

The success of NAPA auto parts stores in Alaska during the past few years almost mocks the recent statewide recession.

The familiar blue and yellow pipeline NAPA logo bedecks 39 auto parts stores throughout Alaska, ranging from Barrow to Ketchikan. This spring will mark the third anniversary of the NAPA Anchorage Distribution Center, which supports the state's NAPA businesses.

Four years ago, Alaska had 34 NAPA stores; 1991 will see two new ones, in Healy and Kotzebue, bringing the total to 41. This represents roughly a 20 percent increase in the number of NAPA stores in only four years - most of that during a time when many businesses, including auto parts stores, were failing.

NAPA - the National Automotive Parts Association - is the world's largest distributor competing in the auto parts aftermarket, or market for replacement parts. There are approximately 6,700 NAPA stores in the United States, serviced by 76 NAPA distribution centers. Sixty four of the distribution centers are owned by Genuine Parts Co., a publicly owned firm with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., where the first NAPA store opened in 1928. Four private firms variously own the remaining 12 distribution centers. Well-known parts manufacturers, such as Echlin and Dana Corp., supply the parts in NAPA's private packaging.

NAPA is not a franchise or corporate chain. NAPA stores are privately owned and operated under their own business names and identified as NAPA auto parts stores. Greg Durdik, general manager of the Fairbanks-area stores, says, "NAPA is the association we all belong to. There are no dues, no franchise fees, no contracts to sign. It's just a handshake deal. People are surprised to find this out."

Doug Welch, president and general manager of the NAPA Anchorage Distribution Center, explains the different entities that make up NAPA's aftermarket distribution system: "We sell only to NAPA auto parts stores, and they sell only NAPA auto parts. NAPA is the link between the jobbers (the NAPA stores), the manufacturers that supply the product, and the distribution center that distributes that merchandise to the stores."

Before the Anchorage distribution center opened, all of Alaska was served through the Seattle distribution center. Alaskan NAPA jobbers worked for several years to convince Genuine Parts Co. headquarters that an Alaskan distribution center was viable. In the mid-1980s plans began to solidify, and through 1986 and 1987 the sales and distribution of vehicular parts were tracked by computer in Seattle. The data were studied and analyzed to get a complete picture of Alaska's unique market from the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay to Bush communities such as Bethel to the traditional markets of the larger cities - and to determine staffing requirements for an Alaskan distribution center.

In October 1987, the midst of Alaska's...