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Merlyn Brockman was looking for a part-time job when he retired from working his town of Roxbury farm.

What he found, after completing the first job interview in his life, was a position that allowed him to drive the countryside and use his good nature to interact with mechanics at auto repair shops throughout south-central Wisconsin.

After 22 years as a delivery driver for Weaver Auto Parts, Brockman, 80, whose wife Betty has worked in the corporate office for the past 10 years, has no plans to retire.

He also is one of several employees who have more than 20 years with the Sauk City-based company founded in 1972 out of a garage in Portage.

"It's interesting and I get to meet a lot of interesting people," Brockman said recently as he prepared to load his silver Chevrolet HHR delivery vehicle for a route that includes shops in Black Earth, Mazomanie, Spring Green and Plain. "I never know where I'm going to stop."

And the founders never dreamed of how big their company would get.

Mary and Mark Weaver, both 60 and high school sweethearts from Antigo, have grown their business to 17 stores and are completing a $3 million expansion at the company's warehouse and distribution center at 808 Industry Road on Sauk City's south side.

With 135 employees, Weaver is the largest Wisconsin-based auto parts company in the state, a terrain filled with national players such as NAPA, Auto Zone, O'Reilly and Carquest.

"It's getting more competitive, but Mark is certainly a guy who has demonstrated the ability to withstand the competition," said Dick Beirne, president of the 13-store United Auto Supply based in La Crosse. "He and his wife built that from scratch and they've become very good at it."

Emphasis on service

Like most smaller companies competing against national giants, customer service is key. That's where drivers such as Brockman become valuable, along with managers who co-own stores with the company.

"The company grew as we found people that wanted to manage and own," said Mark Weaver, president. "We always hope they go the extra mile on customer service and do what it takes to make it successful. It helps us survive against the big guys."

Weaver also has its own machine shops to quickly repair radiators, perform brake drum and rotor machining and other work.

Each of the stores can do minor machine work, but larger jobs are sent to its machine shops in Sauk City, Portage and the Odana Road location in Madison.

Meeting the fast-paced demands of repair shops is critical, because of the saturation of auto parts stores, said Paul Flogel, program director for the automotive department at Madison Area Technical College.

"It really is about customer service and who you're comfortable buying from," said Flogel, who spent 15 years doing repair work in Madison-area shops. "You have to find someone you trust and is going to work for you. If the customer isn't satisfied, you may not see them again."

Years in the making

Mark Weaver had just completed a four-year stint in the U.S. Coast Guard when he and Mary moved to Portage from Baltimore to join Mark's brother selling auto parts out of a truck to repair shops. That lasted a few weeks before the Weavers decided to open an auto parts store along the Portage canal in 1972. Rent for the 2,000-square-foot space was $100 a month.

"And we didn't know where it was going to come from in those days," Mary Weaver said.

About 18 months later, they opened a store in Sauk City. Their third store was in Westfield and that began the business model used to this day.

"We had an employee that did a great job in Portage and he lived in Westfield and it was a likely place to open a store," Mark Weaver said.

Continued growth

The growth has continued along with more brands of vehicles on the market, which means a need for more varieties of parts to be on hand.

That's one of the reasons the main floor of the distribution center is being expanded from 18,000 to 59,000 square feet. In addition, the second floor is being expanded from 11,000 to 27,000 square feet. The project also includes a $200,000 solar energy system and a geothermal heating and cooling system.

But it's the growth in inventory that has driven the expansion.

The new space will allow for better organization of the millions of parts under 220 brand names and more room for delivery vehicles to load. Inventory control is one of the biggest challenges facing the automotive parts supply industry, Mark Weaver said.

"Our inventory is typically up between 5 and 10 percent a year and that's a big number," Weaver said. "We constantly have to be managing that inventory, getting rid of the old, putting in new. There's a constant demand on the cash because inventory growth is so strong."

The Weavers are focusing on expanding existing stores instead of adding more locations. The Oregon store was expanded last year, while the store in Randolph moved Thursday into a larger space. Other stores are also being considered for expansion.

Jeff Ganser, 41, has been an owner-manager since 1992 and has been with the company for 23 years. His first jobs included stocking and delivery. He now operates the Sauk City store but is part owner of stores in Reedsburg and Baraboo.

"They've done a lot to make the company go," Ganser said of the Weavers. "They're serious about what they want to do."