NAPA maintains small town, adapts to growth

 

Seventeen years ago, William “Willy” Ashby graduated from Maricopa High School and began working in the parts department at NAPA Auto Center. As a youngster, he had always heard Maricopa was going to grow but never took it as a reality until it happened.

“Maricopa was from the tracks to over by the Circle K next to Chitwood’s (Feed and Supply Store) and you knew everyone that came in,” Ashby said. “People always talked about everything that was coming, then it happened all of a sudden. But we have always been steady, even before the housing boom.”

Along with the housing boom came new ownership. In 2002, the Dugan family bought the auto center from original owner, Don Pearce, and it became Mel’s NAPA Auto Center with full-service auto repair and parts shop. The name Mel came from Tena’s stepdaughter, Melanie.

The store had been in Maricopa for about 50 years. Ashby, now manager, said the store’s employees were always from the area. Even when the Dugans took ownership, the tradition of hiring locals was kept.

“We always wanted to keep a community feel to the shop and we’re happy to hire locals when we can,” owner Tena Dugan said.

Besides the NAPA store in Maricopa, the Dugans own five others — one each in Stanfield, Benson, Chandler and two in Mesa. Besides being active in the local sports’ programs, Dugan tries to hire students part-time whenever possible.

“Sometimes we hire stockers or weekend lube techs from the high school so the kids can earn extra money,” Dugan said. “We have a few graduates of MHS that are working here, too.”

Dugan believes local hires is the “right thing to do” to help support the local economy.

“We are true believers in supporting the community,” Dugan said. “We live in it and work in it, and for small town business, that’s the whole objective for us.”

Mel’s NAPA Auto Center still has customers from before the growth when much of the area was farmland and rural. Along with car and truck owners who moved to town after the boom, regulars include the original farming community, feed lots, local businesses and Pinal Energy, a local manufacturer of ethanol.

The Stanfield NAPA stocked construction supplies before there was an Ace. Otherwise, people had to drive to Casa Grande or Phoenix for a stick of PVC or some nails.

“Our motto is if we don’t have it, we’ll get it,” Dugan said, adding that Ashby is always searching for obscure parts for tractors, trucks and parts for the newer hybrid cars.

Ashby said since he started in the parts business some parts have become rare over time, especially parts for tractors and farm equipment.

Summertime is usually the busiest time of year for both the parts center and the full-service auto shop. Dugan said the high temperatures drain batteries and it’s not until summer when people will address their air-conditioning systems. “When the AC goes down, they bring them right in. It’s so nice in the winter we sometimes forget what the summer will be like.”

Currently, Dugan is holding off plans to expand her business with new shops because they may have to relocate the Maricopa shop.

“We want to be more accessible to our customers,” Dugan said.