Temecula, Calif. -- The population of Temecula has quadrupled within the last two decades to more than 100,000 residents today. Through hard work and a family-oriented approach, the city's sole NAPA Auto Parts store, Temecula Auto Parts Inc., has flourished right along with the explosive growth of southwestern Riverside County, President Allen Orr said. 
Orr, 61, said he has owned the NAPA store in Temecula for 19 years, after working for 16 years with NAPA, including two years as a general manager at a NAPA distribution center in Albuquerque, N.M. The business leased a store during its first eight years of operation before Orr purchased the building that houses the store, he said.
Orr said his store has increased its profits every year since opening its doors in 1989 and now does approximately $4 million in sales annually and carries a parts inventory of $1.2 million.
Working alongside Orr is Eric Roweton, 40, who is the store's general manager and oversees the location's day-to-day operations. Roweton said he started working for NAPA in 1990, as a counterman in Orem, Utah, eventually working his way up the corporate ladder to become a GM at NAPA's distribution center in San Diego.
When Orr offered him the position of general manager at NAPA Temecula last summer, Roweton said he jumped at the opportunity.
Roweton said his goal is to eventually purchase the store once the Orrs decide to retire.
"Al and Patsy have a great business here," Roweton said. "They've built it through hard work and superior customer service, and that's why it's done so well. If and when they want to move on, I will be proud to carry on the NAPA name here in Temecula."
NAPA Temecula operates out of a 12,500-square-foot facility, which includes a retail floor, offices, and a parts warehouse that contains 5,000 square feet of second-floor shelving space, Orr said.
The company employs 23 people, including two managers, nine counter personnel, one dispatcher, six drivers, two cashiers, two office personnel, and one outside salesman, Orr said. Orr's wife, Patsy, co-manages the store with Roweton and himself, he said.
The sales mix at NAPA Temecula is 57 percent wholesale parts and 43 percent retail parts, Orr said. The vast majority of the repair shops, municipalities, fleets, new-car dealerships, and school districts that the store sells to are within a three-mile radius, he said.
The store puts a great emphasis on serving its wholesale customers, Roweton said. "We have eight NAPA AutoCare Centers that we work with," he said. "We don't let every shop in; they have to be top-quality shops. They carry a small inventory of our parts and take advantage of the wholesale program NAPA offers."
Two of the major reasons for his store's consistently high sales numbers are the strength of the NAPA brand name and the support that NAPA provides him with service, training, advertising, and marketing, Orr said.
"NAPA is a respected name for quality, and people know it," he said. "And the support the NAPA organization gives us--from sponsoring promotional events like soccer games and NASCAR races to targeted advertising programs -- they really set us up to succeed."
Superior customer service is one big reason for NAPA Temecula's growth, Orr said.
"People expect quality across the board -- from the parts we sell to the people we have working for us. That's why we stress training, follow-up, and going the extra mile when it comes to our employees and how they serve our customers.
"Our goal is to get our customers whatever they need in 20 to 30 minutes," he said. "In many cases, we're delivering parts to the same shops several times daily because we know that they need to turn those cars and get them in and out of their bays quickly. We do 140 deliveries a day on average, using seven trucks. When we're real busy, our dispatcher will hit the road as well."
Having a good dispatcher is vital to an efficient delivery system, Roweton said.
"Our dispatcher, Nick Proios, has been with the company for 13 years, and he's one of the best in the business," Orr said. "He knows the area very well and runs a tight ship. As a former driver, he knows the business from that perspective, which really helps."
Roweton said the store's ability to perform prompt deliveries is one of the main factors that distinguish them from the competition.
"We will do 10 deliveries to one customer every day if they need it," he said. "There is no limit to how many we'll do. If they want it, we'll get it there; it's that simple."
When the store has a delivery that takes more than a half-hour, the situation is reviewed and carefully analyzed to determine what happened, Orr said.
"We miss the mark three to five times per week, on average," he said. "That's a pretty good percentage when you figure we do around 500 deliveries during a normal week. But we want to find out why they happen so that we can pinpoint the cause and do whatever we can to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Having counter personnel that are well-trained is heavily emphasized at NAPA Temecula, Roweton said.
"So far this year, our counter staff has done roughly 270 hours of cumulative training," he said. "We give them additional pay for reaching each of the pre-determined training level, which consist of four courses each. When they're ready to take the ASE test, we pay for it and will increase their wages again once they pass.
"Right now, we have six ASE-certified counter staff members in this store, which is a lot for a parts store."
Several of NAPA Temecula's parts personnel have 30 to 35 years of experience working in and around parts the parts business, Roweton said. The average counterperson at the store has approximately 15 years of industry experience, he said.
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