C-Falls proves popular for auto parts stores

Columbia Falls has about 4,700 residents, but after years of having just two longtime auto parts stores, it now has four. In recent months, the AutoZone and O’Reilly auto parts stores opened on U.S. 2, bringing competition to NAPA and Carquest.

A lot of factors went into O’Reilly coming to town, said Mark Merz, director of external reporting and investor relations. He said the company looks at demographics for a region, the number of registered vehicles, and how many auto repair shops are in the town.

Columbia Falls was a good fit, he said, with its high traffic volumes, particularly in the summer when more than 2 million visitors travel to Glacier National Park. With all those cars, someone is bound to break down.

“The faster we can get a part (to a mechanic), the more successful they can be,” Merz said.

He also noted that O’Reilly looks at its distribution network when it decides to build a store. He said O’Reilly restocks its stores five days a week. If there’s a truck going to a nearby store — in this case Kalispell — it might be advantageous to build another store along the route.

A big difference between NAPA and the other auto parts stores is that it’s locally-owned, said Jeff Henning, who has owned the Columbia Falls store for 22 years. NAPA has been in business here since 1962. The other auto parts stores in town are corporate-owned.

With the addition of the two new stores, the market has tightened.

“It hasn’t been substantial,” Henning said. “But it has hurt us.”

Henning said his marketing thrust has focused on supporting local business and the quality service of his staff. His average employee has seven to 10 years experience in the field, and two are Automotive Service Excellence certified.

Shelley Pierson manages the Carquest store in Columbia Falls. She said this summer was the best the store has ever had — but that was before AutoZone and O’Reilly opened. Even so, the store is hitting its budgets.

“We’re not hurting at all,” she said. “We’re about what we were doing last year.”

The automotive parts market is a huge business nationwide. O’Reilly reported third-quarter sales alone of $1.9 billion, an increase of $149 million over the same quarter in 2013. AutoZone reported third-quarter sales of $2.3 billion, a 6.2 percent increase.

In a poor economy, more people make do-it-yourself repairs, which helps auto parts stores.

Henning estimated that both AutoZone and O’Reilly had a $1 million invested in their Columbia Falls stores, including inventory and real estate.

Advance Auto Parts, another large auto parts store chain, acquired Carquest in January from parent company General Parts International for $2 billion. Advanced closed about 100 stores in the acquisition, but Pierson said that won’t happen here.

“They didn’t buy us to close us down,” she said, but the store’s name could change to Advanced Auto in the future.

For Muffler Alley owner Glenn Weaver, the competition has meant auto parts are more readily available, making it that much easier to get cars on and off the lifts in his repair shop, which helps his bottom line.

“I think it’s helpful that they’re all here,” he said.