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Rip and Katie Vache of Mesa have taken ownership of the Kearny NAPA store.
John Hernandez | Copper Basin News
Copper Basin News
The NAPA store in Kearny has some new owners. Katie and Rip Vache from Mesa have taken over the NAPA store at 393 Alden Rd. The new store name will be Kearny Auto Supply. The Vaches also own Apache Trail Auto Supply in Apache Junction. Rip has worked in the NAPA system since 1985. Katie and Rip have four kids, Andrew, 24, a senior at ASU, Ciarra, 20, a junior at the University of Arizona, Tyler, 22, works at the NAPA store in Apache Junction, and Zach a senior at Red Mountain High School and a dirt track race driver.
The family is big in stock car dirt track racing. They have a parts truck that sells parts at the races at the Arizona Speedway and in Prescott Valley. They are Speedway Motors dealers for the hot rod enthusiasts and race car drivers. Besides offering full automotive and truck parts, Kearny Auto Supply will be mixing paint, make hydraulic, air conditioning and power steering hoses, and carry acetylene, oxygen, and welding supplies. They will have delivery service to fleet customers and same day parts delivery.
Rip said that his reasons for taking over the Kearny NAPA store were, “I wanted to get in the mine business. Friends from the Kearny area kept telling me to come up to this area.” When the opportunity presented itself Rip took it. “My goal is to get the mine business back and service the community,” he said. “We are very customer oriented,” said Katie. “We will be involved in the community and supporters of anything local.”
There will be a grand re-opening and car show as soon as the inventory and rearranging is completed. They have an annual car show in Apache Junction that gets 200 cars entered. The store hours will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon and they will be closed on Sundays. You can contact Kearny Auto Supply at 520-363-5557 or ripsnapa@hotmail.com. You can also visit them on Facebook at Rip’s Apache Trail Auto Supply where friends and customers have good things to say about them and their businesses.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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