AUTO TIRE AND PARTS STORE CELEBRATES 90TH ANNIVERSARY IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

The Wright Brothers set a world record for staying in the air for more than an hour with a passenger aboard.

Scott Joplin's Wall Street Rag was a popular tune.

Americans were averaging about $18 a week in salary.

Benny Goodman, Errol Flynn and Juliano -- Queen of Netherlands -- were born.

A new house cost about $4,500. A new car, $500 to $800.

Pittsburgh defeated Detroit in the World Series, four games to three.

The North Pole was discovered.

The Idanha Hotel opened in the 400 block of Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

The year was 1909 and things were booming in Cape Girardeau.

Planters Flour Mill had opened recently on Main Street as well as the Broadway Theater.

The shoe factory had opened three years earlier on North Main Street and was going strong.

In Cape Girardeau, Barrett Cotner owned one of Henry Ford's Model T cars which were suddenly the rage of the automotive world.

So he opened the doors to Auto Tire & Parts on Spanish Street because he couldn't find parts for his car. So, he opened his own parts business.

Scattered around the new shop on that opening day were an assortment of tools and auto equipment, booklets and pamphlets, including a 1909 parts manual for Cotner's Model T Ford.

And, over the next decade and a half, Model T cars accounted for more than half of the car sales in the United States.

"We've been automotive parts specialists since the Model T," said Greg Stroup, president of the Cape Girardeau business, which is observing its 90th year in business.

Auto Tire & Parts is now headquartered at 212 S. Kingshighway, and includes locations in 24 Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois communities, where the company provides employment to more than 125 workers.

The company gave up tires in 1920, but maintained its original Auto Tire and Parts name.

"We are still growing," said Stroup, who became president of the company in 1997. "We have added five new stores over the past year."

All stores are serviced from the main Cape Girardeau warehouse.

The main store and Cape Girardeau warehouse also house one of the most complete machine shops in the tri-state region, and makes daily deliveries to each of the stores.

The machine shop here employs 22 full-time employees.

"We can handle crankshafts up to 120 inches," said Stroup.

A number of outside sales representatives calls on machine shops throughout the area, selling hard parts and paints.

The company is currently owned by the Tlapek family, only the second owner of the business. The Tlapek family purchased the business in 1948.

John Tlapek is current CEO of the company.

Auto Tire & Parts is observing its anniversary this summer, with a number of customer-appreciation events, including the appearance of Jeff Gordon's NASCAR race car at the Cape Girardeau Store July 31.

Special promotions are planned to send some of the company's customers to the Gateway Speedway for dragsters, in Southern Illinois near Collinsville; and, to the BUSCH Car and Truck races.

Auto Tire & Parts has been rated in the top 50 largest automotive retail chains in the United States by Automotive Marketing Magazine.

Stores are currently located in Cape Girardeau, Kennett, Malden, New Madrid, East Prairie, Charleston, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Bloomfield, Advance, Chaffee, Scott City, Piedmont, Marble Hill, Jackson, Perryville, Fredericktown, and Ste. Genevieve in Missouri.

Illinois locations include Ullin, Anna, West Frankfort, Chester and Red Bud.