All About the People

Friendly Grand Falls-Windsor NAPA shop gives ‘a little extra’ to everyone who walks into shop

By Kristen Lipscombe

For NAPA AUTO Parts owner and manager Brad Russell, the most important part of doing business is ensuring that everyone who walks through the doors of his Grand Falls-Windsor shop is treated exactly the way he would want to be treated – employees and customers alike.

“For our customers, we try to go above and beyond to fulfill their needs,” Russell, 48 of Trinity Bay, N.L., told Auto and Trucking Atlantic while taking a brief break from overseeing his bustling NAPA location in the heart of smalltown Newfoundland.

“I just try to do things that I would want someone to do for me, if I was their customer,” said Russell, who has been working at the shop for 23 years now, grabbing the opportunity to take on the growth of the Grand Falls-Windsor NAPA AUTO Parts franchise almost immediately after graduating with a business degree from the St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.

“We give a little extra,” Russell said of the work ethic he inspires among his employees, which has grown from three to eight people, since previous owner Gord Hiscox took the young entrepreneur under his wing to show the ins and outs of running a successful NAPA Auto Parts store.

“I started at the bottom,” Russell recalled. “Basically, I was at the counter, sweeping the floors, cleaning shelves, doing deliveries – that kind of stuff.”

Russell, who knew he had to learn everything about the business before taking over the manager position, inspires the same sense of professionalism in his employees.

That includes sales associate Darren Snow, who has worked at the friendly Newfoundland NAPA store for more than two decades, starting off as a counterperson, and Karen Kennedy, who started working at the friendly Newfoundland shop about 15 years ago and has worked her way up from delivery driver to the assistance manager role.

“It’s a good place to work… with good people, said Grand Falls-Windsor native Kennedy, who loves working at the NAPA location because of the shop’s warm and welcoming atmosphere. 

“You treat them as fairly as you can,” Russell said of the importance of valuing his employees just as much as his clients. “I basically look at my staff and put myself in their shoes.”

For example, Russell said, “I have a family and if I have something in regards to family that I have to attend to, then I want the flexibility to be able to attend to it, and I try to give my staff the same kind of… respect so that they can do the things that they need to do so they can take care of their families when they need to do.”

“I think my staff realize that,” Russell said. “They understand that they’re working somewhere where I actually do value them as people and not just employees.”

The married father of three also mentors his staff members the way he was mentored by both Hiscox and his father, who owned a service station where he started off pumping gas and changing tires.

That includes Kennedy, who “only knew the colour of my vehicle when I first came.”

“And now I know a lot,” she said with a chuckle of how much she has learned working at the NAPA shop, which provides automotive parts and paint for both individual clients and local garages and service providers.

“Our parts specialists can help guide you in making the best selection from our wide range of high-quality replacement auto parts,” the NAPA website says. “From brake pads to cleaners, and batteries to motor oils, you can count on NAPA to have everything you need to keep your vehicle in perfect condition. 

“Whether it’s to repair, maintain or upgrade your vehicle, you’ll find the products you need from all the best brands.”

Learn more about NAPA Canada products and services at www.napacanada.com.

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