By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
As originally published in Texas Border Business newsprint edition October 2018
Lupe Garza, the owner of NAPA Auto & Truck Parts in Elsa, Texas was among the forty exhibitors that made the Pharr International Trucking Expo a success. Lupe, like the other exhibitors, felt great satisfaction that such an event was created for them. Having it in the Valley is more than just good, most of them told Texas Border Business they have a feeling that as the Expo grows, it will become the event of the year for an industry -trucking- that keeps growing and growing.
What do you do? “We sell parts for the automotive, the fleet, the truck side implements, and all different segments of parts.”
How long have you been in this business? “We’ve owned our Napa store for 14 months, but I worked 15 years before that for Freight Liner in Pharr.”
What do you offer to your customers? “Currently we’re working with Trancasa, and with Juan Cano and Sons. And we’re looking to grow our business in Pharr.”
Aside from those customers that you mentioned, do you also serve other companies? “We service a lot of municipalities in Hidalgo County, a lot of school districts like the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo (PSJA)School District, Edinburg School District, Weslaco Idea Public Schools, and more.”
Do your calls only for parts or do they need to fix something? “Since I’ve been in the business long enough, they also call me for recommendations on how to fix something, and then we sell them the parts that they need to get their issues resolved.”
In your company do you build something? “No, we sell the parts. I mean, the only thing we build in our company is hydraulic hoses for customers that require hoses.”
Now Texas Border Business readers know that they can call you for hydraulic hoses. Any type of hydraulics? “Yes, sir.”
Is there anything else that you would like to convey so that my readers can learn more about your business?  “Well, I just want to let everybody know that NAPA Auto & Truck Parts in Elsa is not only an automotive store. We’re into the trucks, the implements, and the commercial segment. And we’re looking to grow our footprint in the Valley.” He continues, “For years we’ve been known only as an automotive and paint store, but, there was much more to offer. We are part of over 6,000 stores in the United States; we’re the oldest and the biggest parts distributor in the United States,” Lupe finalized.
