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By Van Wade
Orange Leader

 

Since 1974, R & R Auto Supply has been a blessing, serving Orange-area residents for nearly 46 years along MacArthur Drive.

When Jerry and Marietta Howington bought the building at the location where it has always been, they became tremendous fixtures in the Orange community.

Now their children, Joe Howington and Sue Denosowicz, have run the business well for years now as the store continues to flourish.

“It’s been great over all these years, getting to be in a small-town atmosphere and getting to know a lot of local customers,” said Denosowicz. “What’s great is so many people come in here and we simply know them by their first names and vice versa, the only thing missing here is a coffee bar, that would be great.”

R & R Auto Supply is a NAPA-brand store. But it is not a franchise store, it is locally owned by the family.

The NAPA brand is one of the most reliable in the country as far as their products go.

“NAPA is the best brand out there,” said Howington. “They have quality parts and supplies to keep cars, trucks, and equipment performing smoothly and safely. We have everything here that anybody would need, whether you are an auto service professional or a do-it-yourself mechanic.”

Denosowicz echoed the same sentiments.

“NAPA supplies us with everything we need to help our customers,” said Denosowicz. “We’re able to aid people in so many different ways, and that also includes industrial customers and municipal customers.”

Both of them feel like customer service is what it is all about and they’re both so proud of the staff they have to work with.

“Each of our employees are ASE certified parts professionals,” said Denosowicz. “They are so darn good at what they do. If you want to talk about years and years of experience, we certainly have that.”

“We love to say that we have a family-oriented atmosphere here,” said Howington. “The folks that work here, they are like family members and we always try our best to treat them that way.”

R & R was one of the businesses that took a big hit from the flooding of Hurricane Harvey as they had a little more than three feet of water in most of the store.

“That was rough because we moved so much stuff up higher and yet it wasn’t high enough,” said Denosowicz. “We bounced back nicely though. That’s due in part to a great staff that rolled up their sleeves along with many other people that helped us out. We got through it, just so many others across the area. People here tend to bounce right back up and that’s another thing that makes Orange special.”

Joe and Sue’s dad, Jerry, passed away in 2012 but Mom, Marietta, is still a key player when it comes to the business.

“Mom, she still likes to tell us what to do at times,” laughed Denosowicz. “Most of the time, it’s just basic stuff, but we certainly listen to what she has to say because she was involved with Dad in it so much over all those years.”

R & R Auto Supply will be celebrating its 46th anniversary in April. So, they plan to make it to 50 years.

“You better believe it,” said Howington. “I love what we do, the people we work with along with great customers. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

R & R Auto Supply is located at 1900 MacArthur Drive in Orange. Their phone number is (409) 886-2589.