The State Journal-Register

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Quincy Automotive Supply has sold its Specialty Paint operations to a Chicago company, but the decision did not come easily.

“It’s very, very hard to sell a company that you started,” said company president. J. Garth “Butch” Elzea III. He is the third generation to head the autoparts business started by his grandfather, J. Garth Elzea Sr., in 1921 in Quincy.

Butch Elzea’s father, J. Garth Elzea Jr., moved the headquarters from Quincy, IL, to Springfield, IL, in 1944. Quincy Automotive also operates a chain of NAPA auto parts stores in the region.

Chicago-based Hyman Brothers has purchased the four Specialty Paint shops in the Illinois cities of Springfield, Peoria, Jacksonville and Decatur. Both Hyman Brothers and Specialty Paint supply wholesale paint products to the autobody industry.

Approximately 20 employees also have made the move, and Hyman will continue to operate as Specialty Paint in this area.

Elzea, 58, said selling the paint operations, started in 1988, would allow him to concentrate on the NAPA side of the business.

And that part of the family business continues to expand.

Quincy Automotive just completed a buyout of three autoparts shops in Pekin, IL, that will be combined into a single, larger NAPA store, as well as an existing NAPA outlet in Beardstown, IL. The new stores are added to two existing stores in Springfield, and one each in Peoria, Morton, IL, Jacksonville and Decatur.

Elzea said the changes are part of a long-term strategy to expand the retail side of the autoparts business.

There has been rapid growth in the retail market the last few years. AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts and O’Reilly Auto Parts are among the national chains that have added new outlets in the area.

“It’s common in many, many communities all over the country,” Elzea said. “Our splits are in reverse. We are about 90 percent wholesale and 10 percent retail. They are about 90 percent retail and 10 percent wholesale. We want to get more into retail.”

Elzea said he expects the company to make additional parts store acquisitions.

“We’ve always had this strategy of planned expansion, and we think we can become substantially larger than we are,” he said.

With the sale of the paint business and addition of parts stores, the company has 103 employees.

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