Fisher Auto Parts has served both installer and do-it-yourself customers since the company was founded in 1929 by Blair Coiner, grandfather of Bo Fisher, CEO of Fisher Auto Parts.
STAUNTON, Va. – One of Federated’s founding members, Fisher Auto Parts, is celebrating its 85th anniversary. Fisher Auto Parts has served both installer and do-it-yourself customers since the company was founded in 1929 by Blair Coiner, grandfather of Bo Fisher, CEO of Fisher Auto Parts.
“We want to congratulate the entire Fisher Auto Parts team on 85 years of serving its valued customers,” said Rusty Bishop, CEO of Federated Auto Parts. “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.”
In 1929, with the nation facing the Great Depression, 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 salesmen 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. 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.
After expanding to 60 stores and 300 employees in 1983, the company’s name was changed to Fisher Auto Parts. Art Fisher continued to foster the company’s dedication to providing professional installers with quality service that was second to none, growing the business to nearly 300 stores in 14 states.
Now with 470 locations, plus more than 100 independent jobbers, in 18 states, Fisher Auto Parts continues a steady growth strategy, having more than quadrupled in size over the last decade through a combination of same store sales, mergers and acquisitions.
