NAPA celebrates grand opening

The Loomises of Hayes County are bringing a family approach to the downtown McCook business district. Their philosophy was on display Thursday when Dan and Jackie Loomis brought their children and grandchildren to Cookietown for grand opening ceremonies at the family’s recently acquired NAPA Auto Parts store. Posing with their McCook employees are, from left, grandkids Emily Loomis, Brekkyn Cox, Maddox Loomis and Briar Cox. Front row, Sara Loomis, Amanda Cox, Jackie Loomis and Cheryl Remington. Back row, Kevin Zumpke, Anthony Loomis, Jack Loomis, Rich Marquardt and Dan Loomis. One of the McCook staff members, Ayrton Koziski, is not pictured.

Bruce Bake/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. -- Surrounded by their family and their staff members, Dan and Jackie Loomis came to McCook Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of their newest NAPA Auto Supply store.

"We're just a couple of Hayes County farm kids," the Loomises said, "but we've received wonderful support from the people of Southwest Nebraska."

As a result, the Loomis family now operates NAPA Auto Supply stores in Curtis, Cambridge, Eustis and McCook.

The Loomises started down the NAPA path in 2007 with the purchase of the store in Curtis. From that point forward, the Loomis group grew steadily, with the family acquiring the NAPA store in Cambridge in 2008 and the NAPA store in Eustis in 2010.

"In our opinion, we have the best customers in the world," Dan Loomis said. "We feel so fortunate to serve the farmers, ranchers and townspeople of this area."

Their customers' loyalty is what propelled Dan, Jackie and their family to further expand their business this year by acquiring the McCook NAPA store from long-time owners, Rich and Deb Cappel.

The sale was finalized on the first day of August and was celebrated Thursday in the spacious storeroom of the 13,000 square foot NAPA building at the corner of West Third and B street in McCook.

More than 175 guests turned out for the grand opening. The noon-time event featured hot dogs, chips, cookies and bottled water.

Joining Dan and Jackie at the celebration were their children -- Anthony, Jack, Amanda and April -- and their grandkids: Emily Loomis, Brekkyn Cox, Maddox Loomis and Briar Cox.

"We also want to express our appreciation to the outstanding staff members at the McCook store," the Loomis family said. The staff members are Ayrton Koziski, Cheryl Remington, Kevin Zumpke and Richard Marquardt.

In addition to owning the NAPA stores in this area, Dan and Jackie have a diversified farm and ranch operation in Hayes County. "Hayes County is our family's lifetime home," said Dan, who is the son of Jack and Hazel Loomis, and Jackie, who is the daughter of Vernon and Virginia Orman.