Livin' the dream

MOPARMITCH said
Good luck Robert. Hope that works out well for you. Just so you know, Advance Auto bought out Corporate Carquest last year. You would probably be a better fit in one of those Pro Jobber Stores with your experience. As for myself, I have been retired from the Auto Parts business as a small chain owner for 15 yrs now. Started in the business at age 17 as a delivery boy for $1.75 an hour. Sold all of my stores to Carquest. The old guys who mentored me through the years advised me to try and buy the commercial buildings I was doing business in, so I did\. To this day Carquest sends $$$ to my bank acct on the first of every month. Built the shop at my home the year I sold to Carquest, so I could have a place to hide out. Now I do a couple of jobs a week, mostly for people from our Church. Of course, I have time for my Hot Rods also. Sue and I have been very Blessed. I do believe we are living the dream.

Thanks, Mitch.

That's actually one of the reasons Advance bought out Carquest is to make in roads into the commercial side. One of the reasons for the acquisition of AutoParts International several years ago. They're working to distance themselves from Auto Zone in the idea that the counter help is just nothing more than underpaid wage slaves and that the front end is just full of cheap parts.

I'm being asked to bring the automotive experience to the counter and to the retail side as well as working on bringing back some lost commercial accounts. Since I can speak the language on the commercial accounts it's a good fit.

Selling the parts they sell is easy. I did it for years in my own shop. Moog, KYB, etc, and with the partnership with Carquest the commercial side opens up easily in that Advance now stocks a lot of Carquest parts as well as the other way around.

The biggest thing to overcome in the store I'll be working is that there are no national accounts. No Firestones, mo Midases, no Goodyear stores with 30 minutes. We have one regional account and the rest are independent shop owners used to dealing with Carquest and NAPA.

On the plus side is the idea that I'll be gaining retail management experience. For all my experience in management in shops I've owned and shops I haven't, brick and mortar retailers are looking for retail experience. So if things head south at Advance I'll have that experience under my belt.

Kind of always looking forward.