Navistar has opened its 100th storefront location for its Fleetrite aftermarket truck and bus parts brand at Kyrish Truck Center in Willis, Texas. With this milestone, Navistar has doubled its original goal of opening 50 Fleetrite locations by 2025, according to a company release.
“Our goal for Fleetrite is to continue to expand our reach with additional product lines and store locations to increase the Fleetrite footprint in North America and connect with more customers,” said Mark Reiter, VP of parts. “Kyrish Truck Centers, and all our dealers who have opened Fleetrite locations, make these goals possible. We also appreciate Kyrish, whose investment in new, standalone facilities, like this site in Willis, Texas, puts parts in the hands of our dealers, fleet managers, and service managers, thereby reducing downtime for our customers. We see true value in the Fleetrite brand and look forward to working with Kyrish and all our dealers to open additional facilities.”
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Family-owned and operated Kyrish Truck Centers runs four Fleetrite locations across Texas.
“We are delighted to be opening our newest Fleetrite store in Willis, Texas,” said Jeff Kyrish, CEO of Kyrish Truck Centers. “We believe that Fleetrite is an integral part of our long-term parts strategy, targeting customers who traditionally shy away from an OEM buying opportunity and helping our customers increase uptime.”
In celebration of the new store in Willis, Kyrish Truck Centers hosted a grand opening on Aug. 3 and invited customers, community, and company leaders. Brad Smith, shop foreman with the Willis Independent School District, participated in the event after recently connecting with the store’s personnel.
Smith oversees a fleet that includes 97 IC Bus school buses. The district is experiencing significant growth and will add between 1,500 and 1,800 new students in the coming year. He anticipates that about half of them will require school bus transportation, requiring him to keep his fleet well maintained and prevent downtime.
“From what I can tell looking around, the store will have a lot of stock,” Smith said. “That really helps my school district because we’re growing so fast. With the store here, I can get parts so much quicker and not have to go get a spare bus to put on the road. It’s going to be great. It will keep my fleet running a lot more efficiently.”