Merchants has been a staple in the Hooksett community with many divisions including its core national fleet management business, local used-car retail dealership, vehicle rentals, service and CarQuest (CQ) parts department. In 1998 Merchants purchased the CQ franchise and located the business within their service building. Housing eight employees; two managers and six delivery drivers, CQ distributes quality automotive parts to Hooksett and Manchester area businesses.
Recently, Merchants struck a deal with General Parts Incorporated (GPI) of Raleigh, NC to purchase the CQ location. Under the conditions of the sale all current employees were offered to keep their positions with the new company. The location will remain local, moving just a quarter mile down the street to a larger store located at 1329 Hooksett Road, Hooksett. This move opens up office space for Merchants continued growth with its workforce increasing by 9 percent in 2013.
Dennis Hewitt, CQ’s assistant manager, has been with Merchants for 14 years and Brian Sullivan has been parts manager for roughly a year. Sullivan said of the change, “We are thankful for our time here at Merchants; it is a bittersweet ending. The deal was a great decision for Merchants’ expansion and an exciting new venture for our careers in this industry.”
This is GPI’s first CQ store in New Hampshire as they hope to increase their northeast footprint. They have 1,275 stores that service 1,400 independent locations nationally. Merchants and GPI are both private, family-owned companies in business for more than 50 years. They share in similar employee values and strive for further expansion and growth.
Current Issue - May 2024