Dealership Gets New LifernAs NAPA Auto Parts Store

When Kent Rylee got word in 2008 that his Chevrolet dealership was among 2,700 nationwide that GM was planning to close as part of its “wind-down,” he and longtime employee Darrell Bone realized they needed to come up with a plan to keep themselves and their staff employed.

That plan was the launching of Kent Rylee Automotive Solutions, an independent dealer of NAPA auto parts.

Kent Rylee Automotive also offers collision repair, NAPA car service and maintenance, and tire sales and installation. It sells used cars at its main location, 2100 S. 8th St. in Rogers.

Rylee and Bone also own a Bentonville store with partner Sean Wells.

As a NAPA dealer, the company supplies parts for everything from commercial vehicles to construction equipment, lawnmowers, tractors, RVs and boats.

So far this year, Rylee said, sales of NAPA parts have increased 59 percent at the Rogers location and 49 percent at the Bentonville store.

“GM threw us off a cliff and NAPA threw us a parachute,” Rylee said.

The company recently received NAPA’s Five Star Excellence Award for 2010. The business was one of 231 out of more than 3,000 independent NAPA stores nationwide to receive the award, and the only one in Arkansas, Rylee said.

The award is based on sales growth, store presentation, training and increased wholesale parts sales.

To prepare for the transition from Chevy dealer to the new business, Rylee and Bone held a series of “town hall” meetings with their customers.

“We basically told them we were doing the wind-down with GM but we were going to be here to take care of their cars and take care of their car needs and body shop needs, and still be in the used-car business,” Rylee said.

They also kept their employees informed every step of the way, he said, and in turn the employees stood behind them, even making personal sacrifices such as giving up weeks of vacation time.

The company went from 64 employees as a dealership to a current 36, Rylee said, though some of those jobs were lost through attrition.

An unexpected benefit of the transition was that many customers hadn’t realized the service department could work on non-GM vehicles. Now the company does increased business servicing all makes of vehicles.

“It’s like when one door closed, 20 opened,” Bone said.