Local NAPA stores consolidating

Mechanic Street store closing; bigger staff, broader inventory for Redstone store

The NAPA store White Mountain Auto Supply on Mechanic Street in North Conway is closing after more than 30 years as part of a consolidation with NAPA Auto Parts Redstone.Dec. 31 is the final day for the Mechanic Street store, but the staff of four will be moving over to the Redstone location on Jan. 2.Both stores are part of the same franchise owned by Andy St. Pierre, Rene Chartier and Gary Nash, of Rumford, Maine."Right now, we're essentially one business with two roofs," said Fred Rogers, manager of NAPA Auto Parts Redstone. "We're consolidating by bringing all the help and inventory under one roof. By doing that, we'll be able to expand our inventory and hopefully increase our level of service to the people of the valley."Rogers said that with two stores, there was "duplicate inventory." By consolidating, he said, "We can broaden our inventory and offer more parts numbers.""It's a positive thing," said Mike Elliott, manager of Mechanic Street store. "We're going to be in a bigger location with a larger inventory and more people to service our customer base."The Mechanic Street NAPA has survived two fires over the years. In July of 1998, a fire that started in an outside storage area destroyed the front half of the building. It took about eight months to rebuild the store. Six years later, on the exact same date, coincidentally, a smaller fire broke out, causing damage to the exterior and a delivery vehicle.The building is owned by David Patch, who was the proprietor of the business until about a year ago. Rogers said the NAPA store is one of the "longest-standing" businesses in North Conway Village, even pre-dating zoning in the town. The building is a grandfathered commercial use in a residential zone."It grew over the course of time, until they couldn't add another inch to it anywhere," Rogers said. "It's completely filled up the lot."Patch was out of town early this week, and his wife, Maxine, said no decisions have been made on the future plans for the property.