by Andrew Markel
Editor, Brake & Front End magazine
SAN DIEGO, CA — The Automotive Parts Associates, Inc. (APA) honored Henry Jacobs for his 50 years of automotive aftermarket service at its annual shareholders meeting in San Diego, Calif. Jacobs is the founder of Automotive Warehouse in Wichita, Kan.
Jacobs started his career in an automotive machine shop in 1937. Soon he moved onto working onto the parts side of the machine shop. His career was only interrupted by World War II, when he went to work for Boeing building bombers. In 1954, Jacobs bought out a 1,200-square-foot parts store for $15,000. Since then it has grown to multiple warehouses with more than 45,000-square-feet of space.
“I managed to raise the money by mortgaging my home and I created a corporation and sold stock to three factory sales representatives.” said Jacobs. “In those days we did not have remanufactured water and fuel pumps, we instead stocked the gaskets and parts that the mechanic need to rebuild the unit.”
In 1983, Henry sold the business to his sons Dave and Robert.
Also during its Annual Shareholders Meeting, APA announced the re-election of J. Michael Faley, Robert Jacobs and Silvia Martinez to its board of directors.
“I realize that it takes a great deal of time and effort to be a member of the board,” said Martinez. “Our commitment to the group is so strong that we have never missed a meeting in the past 13 years.”
Faley is the owner of Faley Enterprises and IWI Motor Parts with stores located in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. Faley said some of goals for the new term include adding new members, increasing rebates through combined buying power and continuing to hold the line on operation expenses.
Jacobs is part owner of Automotive Warehouse in Wichita, Kan., with his brother Dave. One of Jacobs’ goals is to develop strong marketing programs for its shareholders, he said.
Martinez runs A-1 Auto Parts Warehouse, Inc. The company has three locations in the U.S. and seven locations in Mexico.
“I really believe that these days you will not survive if you do not belong to a good group,” said Martinez. “The APA group is successful because the members are really involved.”
APA is a member-owned cooperative made up of more than 100 independent warehouse distributors. Its member distribution centers offer a wide assortment of national brand product lines as well as a substantial line of “Professionals’ Choice” brand products.
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