Auto parts store offers more choices to drivers

LEWISTOWN - In the world of vehicles and what makes them run, options can be important. So to bring more choices to area customers, two local men have launched an auto parts store in Lewistown.

Owners Greg Minium and Glenn Supplee opened the doors of Minium and Supplee Auto LLC, a CARQUEST Auto Parts franchise, on Oct. 1. Located in the Super Center Plaza, the store offers a variety of car parts and accessories, and a wide range of services.

Minium, of Honey Grove, said the idea for the store originated because he had worked at the CARQUEST in Mifflintown for two years for Supplee, who is part owner of the store.

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Sentinel photo by MARJORIE STROMBERG
Minium and Supplee Auto LLC, a new auto parts store, opened on Oct. 1 in the Super Center Plaza in Lewistown. Part of the CARQUEST franchise, the store is owned by local residents Greg Minium and Glenn Supplee. It offers a variety of car parts and accessories.

By opening Minium and Supplee in Lewistown, Minium said, "we're hoping to take care of the area (and the) residents as far as auto parts."

Minium said the Lewistown store carries "just about anything ... automotive," including car and truck parts and accessories, and body panels.

"(We've) got a large inventory," Minium said. "It's growing every day."

The shop also offers custom-made hydraulic hoses and DuPont Automotive paint, Minium said, possibly making it stand out from other auto stores.

Additionally, it offers delivery for "whatever's bought," Minium said. Two delivery vehicles currently are in operation, but plans are under way to get a third up and running, he said.

Deliveries now go to Reedsville and surrounding areas, but the hope is to eventually expand them to Mount Union and McClure, he said.

Minium and Supplee employs a total of four part-time people and two full-time, Minium said, which includes himself. Supplee, though part owner of the store, doesn't work at its location; instead he remains at the Mifflintown location full time, he said.

Minium said his employees' experience, and his own, help contribute to the store's success.

"I grew up around vehicles," he said.

Supplee, of Thompsontown, said he has been selling auto parts since 1977. Before working at the Mifflintown CARQUEST, which has been open a little more than two years, he owned an independent auto parts store for 22 years, he said, and before that, worked at an engine machine shop.

Opening the Lewistown store, he said, provides "just another freedom of choice for our customers."

Supplee said there are many other auto parts stores in the area, but there's also "plenty of room for competition."

"We saw an opportunity and decided to go with it," he said.

Minium and Supplee, which is independently owned, also installs wiper blades and batteries, and conducts diagnostic tests for engine lights, at no extra charge, Supplee said.

Minium and Supplee Auto LLC is located in the Super Center Plaza in Lewistown, in the shopping center above Walmart. For more information call 248-7868.