Fisher Auto Parts celebrates 85th

STAUNTON, Va. (Oct. 16, 2014) — Fisher Auto Parts, one of Federated Auto Parts' founding members, is celebrating its 85th anniversary.

Fisher has served both the installer and do-it-yourself markets since its founding in 1929 by Blair Coiner, grandfather of Bo Fisher, CEO of Fisher Auto Parts, according to Federated.

“We want to congratulate the entire Fisher Auto Parts team on 85 years of serving its valued customers,” said Rusty Bishop, CEO of Staunton-based Federated.

“As one of Federated's founding members, Fisher Auto Parts has been actively involved in the growth and success of Federated since day one. Fisher has held true to its mission of providing customers with outstanding service, brand name quality parts at competitive prices, and the fastest, most accurate delivery service.”

Federated said that during the throes of the Great Depression Mr. Coiner “founded his company with high hopes, perseverance and determination.” He started by selling auto parts to car dealers, service stations and garages. The company offered door-to-door service in 1933 with a fleet of six specially constructed trucks that carried hundreds of parts and offered mobile machine shop services. The company's sales crew traveled delivery routes that kept them on the road for up to a week at a time, servicing remote rural areas where replacement parts were hard to come by.

By 1941, the company had grown to 18 employees and serviced approximately 800 wholesale-only accounts, according to Federated, noting that “because training and education were extremely important to ensure the company was providing quality service, employees and customers loaded onto buses for trips to manufacturers' facilities for up-to-date training.”

The chain had expanded to 60 stores and 300 employees by 1983. Art Fisher, father of Bo Fisher, grew the business to nearly 300 stores in 14 states, according to Fisher Auto Part's website, changing its name from Coiner Auto Parts to Fisher Auto Parts. Mr. Fisher, former CEO of the company and founder of Federated Auto Parts Distributors, died in 2004 at age 65.

Today, Fisher Auto Parts operates 470 locations and has more than 100 independent jobbers in 18 states. The company “continues a steady growth strategy,” Federated said, “having more than quadrupled in size over the last decade through a combination of same store sales, mergers and acquisitions.”