03/17/09

CINCINNATI COMPANY SEES OPPORTUNITY IN LOCATION

Palladium-Item Article - Link
By Mike Bennett
Sunday, March 08, 2009

An auto parts business with roots in the Cincinnati area saw a good opportunity when the NAPA store closed late last year in Richmond. The result is a new store in the same location at 129 S. Eighth St.

KOI Auto Parts opened Monday, a little more than two months after NAPA Auto Parts closed. NAPAs last day in Richmond was Dec. 23. KOI has more than 60 stores, mainly in Ohio and Kentucky. There are now four in Indiana with other locations in Brookville, Lawrenceburg and Madison.

"We started in Cincinnati (area) and we're moving out," said Charlie Paxton, manager of the Richmond store. "We are still growing. It's a good fit for us." KOI's family tree reaches back to 1946 when William "Pops" Neltner opened a small gas station in Newport, Ky. The Neltner family bought Lexington Motor Service in 1953 and began focusing on auto parts. The name now reflects the first initials of the three states.

"We don't have a lot of imagination," joked Paxton, who began working 25 years ago with the KOI in Hamilton, Ohio. "We just like to sell auto parts." KOI boasts that it has 350,000 unique parts in 750,000 square feet of its warehouse in downtown Cincinnati. The Richmond store is open Monday through Saturday. It has five full-time and four part-time employees.


News Main