Joe and Tom Denton started Knox Auto Parts in 1995, along with their dad Joe Sr who is now retired. Starting from scratch with only one employee they have come a long way since that first day in August 1995. Knox Auto Parts has been growing strong through the years and now employs over 95 people. The Denton brothers grew up in the salvage business in Long Island NY working at the salvage yard owned by their dad and two uncles. “We actually lived next door to the salvage yard and worked there every day during the summer and after school” says Tom Denton the youngest brother. In 1990 the Long Island business was sold and Jim Denton the oldest brother moved to Nashville to pursue his dream of being a songwriter. In 1994 he was blessed with the hit song “Rope the Moon” by John Michael Montgomery but parts were in his blood and in 1996 he rejoined his brothers and dad in the business.

Sept 2015 brought about a new chapter in the Knox Auto Parts story with the purchase of their Nashville facility, formerly Express Auto Recycling located in LaVergne. The Nashville location is being headed up by Jim Denton and his nephew Kyle Denton a 3rd generation Denton. Kyle is the general manager of the Nashville facility. “We have a great crew and we recently completed a major expansion to our warehouse and order fulfilment department that will allow us to meet our customers needs and increase our production capacity” said Kyle when asked how things are going.

The story continues … and in May of 2018 Knox Auto Parts moved into the Birmingham AL market in a big way by acquiring B&D Auto Parts. Miranda Neeley the general manager of the Birmingham location said “Birmingham was a natural fit for us strategically. It is a huge market and is the perfect distance from Nashville allowing us to easily have nightly transfer of parts between all 3 locations with Nashville being the hub”

The automotive salvage business has changed a lot in the last 20 years. Corporate consolidators have really brought competition into the market. When asked about the competition Jim Denton had this to say. “Corporate competition has been really good for us. It has kept us on our game and has had a great affect on the way we do business” Knox Auto Parts has seen tremendous growth over the last 20 years even with the competition. In 1999, in an answer to compete, Knox Auto Parts became a founding member of Team PRP. Team PRP members are among the best of the best in the auto recycling business. Knox Auto Parts and its over 75 Team PRP partners dismantle and process over 10,000 cars per month!

Knox Auto Parts looks forward to the next 20 years of serving its customers.