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Sedro-Woolley Auto Parts
*Reprinted with permission from The Courier-Times Third generation keeps business running
Photo by Codi Hamblin The Huggins family will celebrate May 18 as their family-owned auto parts store reaches its 70th year of business. Sedro-Woolley Auto Parts was opened in 1938 by two brothers, Ray and Roland Huggins, who moved from Kansas to Skagit County. After 70 years, the business has passed into the hands of the third generation of the Huggins family. The store provides customers with various auto parts, paint and body products, and a machine shop allows them to make auto part repairs. The family also purchased Burlington Auto Parts in 1999. Having the third generation own the store is an unusual circumstance as many businesses do not make it into the second generation, said Les Huggins, second generation store owner who is the son of Ray Huggins. Les and his wife, Fay, purchased the store from Ray in 1983. After about 25 years of ownership, Les and Fay passed the the business to the third generation when their son, Steve Huggins, and daughter, Cheri Queen, purchased the auto parts store in 2006. Steve Huggins and Queen said they grew up around the store and had spent a lot of time at the shop. Steve began working at the business when he was 16 sweeping shop floors and stocking the shelves and continued the tradition of store ownership. “I set a goal early in life that I wanted to run a business someday,” Steve said. Queen said she joined the family affair because she always enjoyed coming to the store, and it’s something she’s always done. “I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she said. The family of four has worked together at the store for a number of years. Les said when working with family it is important to not bring the business home, and that it is something he and other family members have strived to do. The family has always gotten along well and respected each other’s opinions, Queen said. What has helped them work together is the fact that the family members trust each other, Steve said, and some families can’t say that. Maintaining a business for 70 years is no cakewalk as the business, like most, has experienced its share of ups and downs. The logging industry of Sedro-Woolley once played a large role in the business’s fluctuations as the industry purchased a large amount of products for logging equipment, Les said. As the logging industry began to decrease in the early 90s, the business had to diversify its inventory, Steve said. The store has also had to diversify its products to meet customer needs as various automobile and other mechanical industries have changed. There will always be some form of transportation and a need for automobile parts, Steve said, but it’s important the store sells variety to meet the needs of its different customers. Having regular customers, a variety of quality products and customer service is what the business has relied on to stay afloat, family members said. “One thing we’ve depended on all these years is the loyalty of our customers,” Fay said. The store’s customers trust and know the family, Queen said. The store’s customers have a variety of needs and the family said they do what they can to meet them. “Whatever the customer needs we’ll find it for them,” Steve said. “I even got milk one time.” To mark the family’s 70 years of business in Sedro-Woolley, they have planned a party for their employees and an open house for their customers, Queen said. The store will also hold several drawings that week and a week-long event where a new special will be featured each day. “It’s not many times a family-owned business lasts 70 years,” Queen said. “We thought we would do something extra special this year.”
Submitted Photo *Reprinted with permission from The Courier-Times |
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