Whenever life-long Clearwater area resident Tom Plaggerman needed to work on his vehicles, he had to take time out of his day to run to Monticello to get the parts. So when he decided to open a business, he knew what the community needed.
Although today known as Parts City, Tom and Teresa Plaggerman’s business originally opened as a Bumper to Bumper auto parts store. Two years later they moved into a larger location in the Clearwater Mall, and in 2009 they moved into their current location on Hwy. 24. In the meantime, Bumper to Bumper was bought out by O’Reilly’s, and in 2008 the Plaggermans went out on their own as an independently-owned Parts City. With all the location and name changes, Plaggerman jokes that they had four grand openings in just five years.
“It took a while for the public to find us with all of our moves,” he said. “But after they did, we’ve been fortunate for the community’s support.”
Things didn’t always run smoothly.
“2007 was a rough year,” Plaggerman said. “Every month, something major went wrong, from employee mistakes to getting broken into.”
The economy was also doing poorly at the time.
Luckily, things started turning around the next year. In 2016, the business grew again when they expanded, taking over the entire building. Then with the closure of the local hardware store in 2019, they purchased a considerable amount of its inventory to sell. They also partnered with Hardware Hank to begin offering a different variety of goods to the community. Today they’re always open to bringing in new items.
“When a customer asks for something we don’t carry, we write it down and gauge whether it will sell well,” said Plaggerman. “More often than not, we bring it in.”
Numerous family members have worked at the store over the years, including the Plaggerman’s two children Angela and Shawn, Tom’s parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and recently a granddaughter. When Shawn joined the service and went away to boot camp, they had a life-size cardboard cutout made of him and set it up in the store. Customers were so used to seeing him they would say hi before realizing it wasn’t actually him.
“That’s how we dealt with him going away,” said Plaggerman. “We included Cardboard Shawn in all our family functions and he rode in a few local parades. He even went to the dentist and worked at Subway for a day.”
Shawn had started ‘working’ at the store right from the beginning. At four years old he was already a salesman. He’d ask customers what kind of car they drove, then grab a related item, like a steering wheel cover, and ask if they ‘needed one of these.’ When one customer told him he needed an oil filter, he yelled across the store at his dad, who was behind the counter, to sell him one. Then added, “Sell him a fuel filter too!”
The Plaggermans give back to the community in numerous ways. Along with their annual customer appreciation event, they donate to fundraisers, Legion events, and local happenings such as the rodeo and the Heritage Festival. Currently, Tom serves on the Lynden Twp. Board of Supervisors.
They’ve participated in the local newspaper’s Thanksgiving turkey giveaway from the beginning.
“We give out 10 turkeys a year; to date, we’ve given out 200,” said Plaggerman.
Their employees are just as important to them as their customers. They’re always holding fun events, like their employee pumpkin carving contest at Halloween in which customers vote for the winner, kayaking, bowling, and holiday parties.
What they appreciate most is their customers.
“We want to thank the community for their years of support,” said Plaggerman.
Clearwater Parts City Auto Parts is located at 845 State Hwy. 24 in Clearwater. They can be reached at 320-558-9901, partscity@frontier.com, or online at facebook.com/partscityautoparts2184209.
