Auto Parts Store Opening in Former Post Office

Renovations have begun at the former U.S. Postal Service Seminole Heights branch to make way for a new NAPA Auto Parts store.

NAPA district manager Al Graese said the 6,000-square-foot building at 5206 N. Florida Ave. will have another 3,000 square feet added to it by the time it opens in late February or early March.

Graese said the location, in the heart of Seminole Heights' burgeoning restaurant and retail scene, was attractive to NAPA because, "It's an area that was just far enough from our other stores that we wouldn't have exposure," he said. "It's an established market. There's a lot of automotive type businesses in that area, and we're really excited about going into that community."

The $1.2 million store will employ about 10 people, Graese said, and will be corporately owned. About 5,000 of NAPA's 6,000 stores nationwide are independently-owned, according to Graese.

The building has been vacant since the post office branch closed in September 2010.