Ray and Mary Skolberg, rural Hutchinson, are the new owners of NAPA. The couple took over ownership of the store from Mike and Joyce Tougas, Paynesville, on Sept. 1."I wish the new owners the best of luck. I have appreciated the business from the local community," Mike Tougas, former NAPA owner, said.
Skolberg has been in the auto parts business 30 years. "Paynesville's close proximity to Litchfield will give us the opportunity to trade parts between stores, providing a deeper inventory to our customers," Skolberg said. The Skolbergs own five other NAPA stores: Litchfield, Glencoe, Montevideo, Winsted, and Arlington.
Their son, Chad Skolberg, will be managing the Paynesville store. Chad has been in the auto parts business 10 years and is a graduate of Willmar Vocational School.
"It is our goal to increase sales and to serve our customers," Skolberg added. "We hope to be able to offer more aggressive price savings."
Among their goals for the store are to expand the inventory and hours. New store hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
Skolberg said they are also changing the name of the business to NAPA Auto Parts-Paynesville.
"We are proud to be part of a store that has been well run and part of Paynesville for 20 years," Skolberg said.
Tougas started with the NAPA store when it was still in the old Coast to Coast building (now Color Max) from 1979 to 1991. In 1991, NAPA moved to its present location on east Highway 23. "Getting the highway exposure helped the business tremendously," Tougas added.
Skolbergs will be retaining all the present employees: Bill Tell, Ken Reimen, and Vance Olson.
On the sale, Tougas said it was time for a change for him and his family.