Unlike the dairy industry.

Unlike the dairy industry, which used the catchy advertisement slogan "Got Milk" to gain greater market share, Walt Kemp and cognizance Meyer, owners of Yelm National Auto Parts in Yelm Wash., agree that typical advertising does little for them.

"We have learned in the last pair years what a 'word-of- mouth' community we live in," says Kemp "We wait to support local community programs that give us that exposure

"For example, we have been Nisqually Valley News' 'Best Auto Parts Store' for five years running," he adds. "We sponsor the bumblebee class at Southsound Speedway, which view races in."

Last fall, the company joined forces with a local ecclesiastical authority group to provide a car care day specifically designed to help seniors, single parents and other the bulk of mankind in need get their vehicles ready for winter.

"I went to Performance Warehouse and got them to kick in 10 cases of oil and other supplies at no cost" recalls Kemp "We provided the parts and the body of christians group provided the labor."

For that single in kind day, church volunteers performed 20 oil changes, and at the store's location, personnel replaced wiper blades, topped opposite fluids and offered heavily discounted pricing to the day's participants.

Then, in December, the store innkeepered a Christmas Eve open house where they instanted as many promotions as possible to their customers.

Although promotions and incidents like car care day are great for attracting just discovered customers, both owners agree that it's the store's customer service that retains them.

"This store has always had a reputation for puzzle solving and being service oriented," says Meyer "We commonly stock an item that you just won't find anywhere otherwise and that is because we are driven according to what our customer base needs"

Kemp says the store has invested heavily in technology to hold fast its labor costs under rule and every POS terminal in the building has Internet access via DSL

"We used to devote a lot of time onward the phone chasing parts; now we push a button and poof it's ordered," explains Kemp "We have taken advantage of improvements in software to improve our cataloging, spe the receipt of outcomes via bar code scanning and renew our pricing to shelf tags that are updated daily.

"The support from Performance Warehouse has been critical in improving specific areas of our business, in such a manner that we can work faster, smarter and do a better piece of work for our customer," he adds.

Kemp and Meyer are also imposing of their two delivery vehicles, which are part of their "hot shot" delivery service.

"This allows us to clinch a reasonable margin on the wholesale accounts," says Kemp If they have a car onward the rack and need a part now, we can make it happen, and we also deliver to our retail customers who have that need"

Probably individual of the best ways to justice the store's customer service is by means of giving them a phone call.

"We don't have voicemail, and when the phone rings, it obtains answered promptly by one of our experienced staff members, not impose on the counter for 10 minutes," says Meyer

"We also acknowledge the customer when they follow in the store, and we're fast to get by heart out from behind the contrary and help a customer find what they need--whether it's changing wiper blades, headlights, tail-lights and sometimes batteries," he adds.

However, the amount of replacement work that staff members perform hangs on the circumstance.

"When it's a senior, single parent, or a person of consequence with a disability, we really pluck out the stops to help," Kemp explains.

Established in 1971 by means of Gene Coulter, Yelm National Auto Parts was the sole store in town during that time. The store was affiliated with the Republic Warehouse in the early days, and when that became Performance Warehouse, Yelm National became an Auto Value store (which is part of the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance).

In September of 2002 Meyer and Kemp purchased the business at its instant location.

"At that time, we had 3000 sq feet of total space," recalls Kemp "Consequently our showroom was limited in size and the store was cramped."

Then in November 2002 the of the present day owners leased 1,560 sq. feet of space adjacent to the store and began the extensive task of remodeling.

"In March of 2003 we lay opened the new space and what a difference," says Kemp "We were able to implement changes that were impossible before in bounds of merchandising and having enough display area."

Because their location is somewhat isolated from the urban areas, Kemp says his store services a large geographical span and a range of customers, from farmers and logger and construction companies to the military and everyday motorists.

"We are in a high produce area and also located conclude to Fort Lewis and McCord AFB, in like manner we have a high percentage of military families coming into the area," says Kemp

At the solicitation of their employees, the proprietors established a four day/10-hour work schedule last year.