NAPA Store Ownership Brings Rich Rewards

Any successful business endeavor depends on some financial reward. Business owners want a payoff, be it short-term income or long-term equity. Owning a NAPA AUTO PARTS store certainly gives business owners such an opportunity, but NAPA owners often don’t consider these the greatest rewards of owning a store. Some of the softer benefits – the freedom and pride of ownership, the support of the NAPA brand and involvement in the local community – are ones owners frequently cite as the best things about owning a NAPA AUTO PARTS store.

NAPA owners enjoy great freedom to operate their businesses as they see fit because NAPA is not a franchise. Owners pay no franchise, licensing, or royalty fees. Instead, NAPA provides a proven system with a large framework of options and lets owners decide how they wish to run their businesses.

“It’s a big deal that we’re not a franchise,” says Jason Zeliadt, Sales Manager for NAPA in Owatonna, MN. “With a franchise, you’re being told how to run every aspect of your business. If you own a NAPA store, you’re in charge of everything from A to Z. Our job from the corporate side of NAPA is to provide you all the support we can to make sure you’re successful.”

Zeliadt emphasizes standing behind owners because it’s his full-time job. Across the country, NAPA’s territory sales managers provide sales support, product education, suggested pricing and assist with inventory management. NAPA’s obsolescence protection program, for example, buys obsolete and slow-selling parts back from owners at current value, helping to keep their inventories relevant to the customers they serve.

The high level of commitment to owners – without all of the franchise strings attached – likely makes Wayne Bentson’s job easier. Bentson is New Business Development manager for NAPA in Minnesota. He helps potential NAPA store owners realize their dream of ownership. Many new owners come from the corporate world, so they appreciate the NAPA model’s balance of independence and the backing of a national brand.

“You really have a national, Fortune 250 company supporting a small, local businessperson,” says Bentson. “All of the advantages of big corporate programs and support are available to NAPA store owners.”

Owning a NAPA store also gives businesspeople a chance to engage with their communities. NAPA stores not only sell auto parts locally, they also hire locally, helping owners to contribute to their local economy. And local sponsorships – schools and sports teams, for example – bring owners closer to their neighbors.

For some, the goal of business ownership is simply to make money. NAPA certainly works hard to ensure that the stores wearing the NAPA colors succeed financially. In fact, NAPA’s success is based on NAPA stores making money. A nearly ninety-year history and 6000 stores suggest both NAPA and its owners are succeeding financially.

But the rewards of ownership exceed income and equity. And delivering on those rewards is what makes owning a NAPA AUTO PARTS store so satisfying to so many.

Think you’d make a good NAPA AUTO PARTS store owner? Learn more at www.mynapa.com or call Josh D’Agostino, Director of New Business Development at (770) 850-2427.