Las Vegas, Nevada, November 8, 2000- The sights and sounds of Las Vegas attract millions of visitors every year. More than thirty three million people visited the city of lights last year alone. The magical city is under constant expansion and renovation. The new trend is toward family oriented 'theme park' casinos and resorts. Behind the scenes at many of these new attractions is a world of hydraulics, pneumatics and automation products. A 'natural' for the ParkerStore concept.

The new Las Vegas ParkerStore is in the shadows of the Rio Hotel and Casino. It is a few blocks north of the premier facility and also visible from Interstate Highway 15. "We're really happy with the turn out for the open house," said store manager Mark Hudcovic. "We've only been open a few days, and we are totally new to the market here. We are already getting referrals from other accounts in the area, especially for the metric fittings."

This store is an expansion for Aaron Saunders' Fluid Connector Products business based in Phoenix, AZ. They also just opened a new ParkerStore in Tucson, AZ and are in the process of relocating their facility in Phoenix. "We're opening three stores at one time," said Saunders. "I don't think anyone has done that before. We're also doing our stores a little different; we are making them true ParkerStores. In addition to fluid connectors, we have added the automation and hydraulic products to our line up. When the customer wants to buy a Parker product, we want to be the store that can sell it to them."

In conjunction with the open house, Donny Schatz Motorsports rolled in with their World of Outlaws sprint car and hauler. The Schatz team has displayed the car at ParkerStores and facilities across the country. "This is the first store that we've been to that has the products from the other groups," said team owner Danny Schatz. "What these guys are doing here, really seems to make sense."

Schatz wrapped up his season in Las Vegas on November 1, and the team is already going full-throttle planning for the 2001 racing season.

(Article by John Strand)