Funniest lines from the parts counter

That is what gets me! Just because someone hasn’t seen something, doesn’t automatically mean it doesn’t exist! I am actually currently in a discussion on another forum about a term we used back in the day and I have a number of people claiming it did not exist! There are a lot of self centered , narrow minded , un- informed ,folks out there, that’s for sure!






Bones

 

We are the exception, not the rule. We are an anomalous customer group so rare that the probability that we will enter the store, asking for parts, is statistically indistinguishable from zero.

No chain auto parts store of any brand, kind, color, or stripe would, or should spend a single cent on hiring employees that have the ability to cater to us. There would never be a return on the investment, let alone a profit on the investment.

All of these stores are staffed with employees in the minimum number, at the minimum basic function that can assist the average minimum customer.

Why? That is what is most profitable.

All of these stores are owned by publicly traded companies. Publicly traded companies have the fiduciary responsibility to maximize return to their individual and institutional shareholders. Paying employees well, and well enough to attract knowledgeable ones, and offering them benefits, if not absolutely necessary to attract employees, all run counter to basic fiduciary principles.

TL;DR: Modern corporations won't pay enough for people like us to have a satisfactory experience at the auto parts store. If it happens, it is an accident.

The singular fix:

Look up the part that you need before you go. If you have a smartphone, have the page for the part ready. If you don't, print that page out at home. A the very least, write down the part number.

Many websites has a "fits" section. Go there and pick out a random line representing a vehicle. It does not matter what it is. That way, if asked, you can say that. If they look it up, that query will lead them to the same part.

Call them and ask for a stock check. Just give them the part number. If they ask what it is, tell the, the topline description (e.g. water pump, starter solenoid, radiator cap). Keep that to two words, or less.

When you go in, say that you would like to buy this part, and show them the information.

 

In this case, that is not what that is.

Store employees are specifically trained to turn away the customers that they cannot help, and quickly.

This keeps the lines short. When lines grow because some yahoo like one of us clogs up the process, other customers get pissed off and walk out.

These stores operate on razor-thin margins, and can only survive on volume. Volume comes from flow.

Stop the flow, means throttling volume. If enough customers do that, the store will close.

If one register can help one customer every 60-seconds, for an hour, it will have served 60 customers.

If one register spends 15-minutes working through finding some obscure part for one of us, it will have served 45-customers in an hour. If ANY of the potential revenue from the other 15 walked out the door without being served, that store has a problem. If any of those 15 decided to not come back because the store is perceived to be understaffed (see: standard fiduciary responsibility), then that store has an even bigger problem.

Also, all chain stores have the ability to, and all of the big ones certainly do this, log the performance of their employees, from the central office. Most often that is by number of customers served.

If the store has two people behind the counter, one who is averaging 60-transactions-per-hour, and another that is averaging just 45-transactions-per-hour, guess which one is going to be having an uncomfortable talk with the store manager.

If it is discovered that that person has fewer transactions-per-hour because they have become the "go-to person" for the hot rodders, they are going to get told to either stop, or to go work somewhere else.

I wish that more people understood that auto parts stores (aside from one-off speed shops), and any other large retail chains, for that matter, do not exist to sell auto parts (or whatever).

They exist to make money for shareholders. That is the prime directive.

Yes, selling "the things" is the means of generating revenue, but little to no care can be placed in what "the things" are. They are to sell a lot, as fast as possible.

We are not, like it or not, the desired customer base.

 

And once again, you have crystallized my thoughts eloquently!

 

All of "the numbers" in the corporate world are fixed, and are not negotiable.

Corporations have a target revenue per-share. Form there, there exists an elaborate set of calculations to determine overheat and operations costs all the way from the individual shareholder dividend payout, to the store counter.

This emcompases every single line-item that would fall into the expense column.

Each store pays each employee the minimum that they can get away with to attract and retain employees. If benefits are offered, they are of the minimum quality to do the same.

From there, it can be calculated how many stores are needed, and how much each much bring in per-hour, per-employee, to make the desired per-share revenue.

This dictates how many transactions each employee must make per-shift.

This also dictates what is in each store. Every item on every peg or shelf is there via a cold calculation of what will sell the most, for the smallest shelf space, with the highest markup (I will give you a hint: it is never 1928-1931 Model A front brake hoses).

Even the location of items in the store is a cold calculation based not just in revenue, but also in psychology. Yes, corporations employ psychologists to figure out how to get more of the average customers to buy more.

Nothing in a chain auto parts store is there by accident. Everything that is not there, is not there on-purpose.

They are a smaller version of Disney World, with a lot more locations. This is true with all major retail.

This is why I can walk into Trader Joe's on Campbell Ave, in West Haven Connecticut, when I am visiting my Mom, or Trader Joe's on Masonic Ave, in San Francisco California, when home, and have the exact same experience, down to the square-foot.

There is an absolutely enormous amount of science behind the scenes in modern retail.

Nothing is not calculated. Even the the anomalous customers are calculated for.

They are calculated for removal from the store, as quickly as possible.

 

I agree on everything thing you said, except the razor thin profit margin. There is a huge mark up between the manufacturers and the customer! And I know there are several steps in there. But the problem is every persons handling the part wants to make as much or more money than the guy that made it!
For example, back a few years ago I wanted four ball joints for my avatar car. My local big national chain parts store, that I had been buying from since it opened, with my employment account, my personal account and my business account, wanted to charge me $75 each. I checked with Rock Auto and could get them for $25 each! I know the big chain bought the parts for the same or less than Rock auto!
My point is the folks that actually made the part, probably only got $15 to 17 for it! By the time I tried to buy it locally, it had increased in price close to four times what it cost to make it!
I can give many examples of this same situation….the businesses that were involved in this money grab are now whining after sticking it to us for years, because some folks, like Rock auto are taking their profits!






Bones

 

We walk a tightrope between being able to help everybody everytime and needing to produce volume or at least a good margin. If someone's problem is taking a serious amount of time, it gets marked up to cover that lost margin. fact of life. And, to make matters worse in MY field, owners are bringing literal antiques back to operation because they can't get parts to keep their NEW trucks in operation.

 

How many retail stores does Rock Auto have? How many employees are in each?

The profit margin that you believe is not razor-thin is quickly eaten by a retail operation.

Remember, almost all chain retail operations also have an online sales operation, just like Rock Auto.

They are doing both. Rock Auto is only doing ONE.

Rock Auto's warehouses are located strategically where operational costs are very low.

That CANNOT happen with retail.

Also, Rock Auto's warehouses are robot-picked, and automated, so they can be staffed by very few people.

Between NAPA, Autozone, and O'Reily, there are probably more people on-staff at those chain auto parts stores, in my city alone, than there are on-staff in all of Rock Auto's warehouses, and they are all getting paid more here, too.

At last count, there are 17 major chain auto parts stores in San Francisco. If you figure that each has a minimum of 6-employees, that is 102 people, in just one 46.2 square-mile city.

The average pay, not including any benefits is about $52,500/yr. (Before anyone shouts yipeee!, the mean (average) household income here is $167,663, and the median individual income is $96,421.)

That pay, multiplied by 102 gets you $5,355,000, in base pay alone. I am willing to put money on that being more than the entire collective warehouse staffing at Rock Auto.

 

I totally understand the retail vs Online shopping , the pros and cons. And I tried to help the retailers, until they quit on me!
I worked for a huge, at the time , parts house, here in Muskogee, while I was going to school. Back then there were various tiers of pricing, list, high net, low net, jobber and distributor! Joe Basolo bought at distributor, which was around 1/8 of list. Joe had employees and rent and expenses , but he could sell at jobber and make profit! If a small businessman in Muskogee could do it, how come the big chains, with all their volume can’t do it today?






Bones

 

They can, and they are. The problem here is one that I already mentioned.

Many folks believe that chain auto parts stores are auto parts stores, that exist to serve customers.

They really are not. They are revenue generators. They are set up to generate maximum revenue.

If if a good customer service experience happens, that is an inadvertent byproduct.

If one, or several locations repeatedly fails to meet revenue expectations, it gets closed.

If if great customer inconvenience happens, that is an inadvertent byproduct.

It absolutely never matters if you or I believe that a location seems to be doing good business.

A the numbers are preselected at the corporate-level. The math is all already done.

If a store looks full, but is only consistently making 50% of target revenue, no matter how much that number actually is, down come the signs, and off go the lights.

Modern Capitalism is cold, calculating, and exacting. Absolutely nothing is left unexamined, or unaccounted for.

 

Since Im the type to look up the part # info anyways (learned that years ago from Dad) and typically my local Oriellys/Napa need to order my desired part. I go straight to Rock Auto or nowadays even Amazon and check thier offerings. Ive found they can usually provide the same parts at a subststantial discount even with shipping. Same goes for boat parts, go kart, motorcycle all of em. If for some reason what Ive ordered doesnt fit I stick it back in the package it was shipped in, drive 15 mins and drop it off at the UPS store, but that rarely happens. The time, fuel, headache saved over going to the parts store is well worth it to me. I feel no loyalty to these corparate owned stores, makes no difference to me if they survive or fold. We havent had a locally owned mom & pop place anywhere close in my lifetime. As far as funny stories from the parts counter, I witnessed a couple guys raising a stink as they tried to return their old starter "core" & the counter guy is refusing to take it. I sneak a look and this damn case was cracked and smashed all to hell. I guess they took the ol tap a stuck starter w a hammer a bit to far... yea I had to wait a good 15 mins while they went back and forth then the manager gets called from the back and gets involved so the only 2 employees are now tied up w these clowns. After a couple minutes of that not going anywhere I got impatient and went accross the street to Autozone. Ahhhh good times at the parts house.

 

They are hanging in the parts store I use in Huntington Beach.The owner always knows when I building something as I stand and stare looking at ID’s and angles.

 

That I totally agree with, like I said, greed on the part of the parts handlers is the fault! With the larger chains, they are usually the only one handling the part after it leaves the manufacturer. Back in the day, the parts store I worked for had to buy parts from a distributor, so there was at least one added step, that is not there now!
This is also the reason I now have no loyalty to any retailer! I now do what is best for me! And I used to be a retailer, myself!





Bones

 

Well said! I totally agree!






Bones

 

When you say the can and they are, I haven’t seen my local parts house selling at jobber to any one! Maybe they do, but I haven’t seen it.

Corporate greed is killing the nation, they are focusing on the fast Buck and not looking at the long haul. Typical view of many folks , today!

I miss the old days. I still can remember what Joe Basolo told us, at employee meetings back in the early 70s. He told us “ a person comes into my business with a problem, if he leaves my business with that problem, you have not done your job! “
I have used that quote in many areas of my life.






Bones

 

Let me be different. There is an O'Reily store in Buckeye with a lady behind the counter that is a walking parts book. Granted, some behind the counter have never seen or heard of some of the engines we refer to, but she can help you out.

 

learned to use copper elbows and 45s to make radiator hoses fit . walking in the back of parts stores became a ...sorry we cant let you because of insurance regulations....

 

We are our own best parts counter people.

 

autozone stock today $2380.45. stock never split. so limited owners.
i think autozone parts stock is on consignment. i.e. no property tax
i think rockauto parts inventory is from overstock, out of business, etc buys.
thats why their prices are cheap. you need to read between the lines to find the right part listed
just my .02$

 

Pretty much correct. AUTOZONE does not own anything on their shelf. Once it’s scanned the show a sale and they get billed from Manufacturer. Stolen items are part of shrink built into price.
Show me a Rock Auto store… You may pass one every day. Almost any parts distributor can list their items on RA and move their inventory at RA demand. They get RA shipping discounts to ship out. Complex but RA has only cataloging and billing dept.
Parts industry has changed. They don’t care about car builders or old cars. Too costly to keep parts on the shelf that don’t move or guys using on incorrect applications.
40 years doing this and all the good guys have had enough.

 

Damn, I hate it when someone derails a good old nostalgic rant with facts and logic! But that doesn't stop me from missing the good old days. In my hometown we used to have a parts store on the square (next to an office supply store that still had typewriter ribbons) that still had parts from the 30s and 40s. The old man would ask you what you wanted and then would go into a dark aisle and pull on the string that turned on a single 100w. light bulb, roll a ladder to the approximate shelf to find it, then turn the light back off when he brought a dusty box to the counter (no need in wasting electricity); and write you up a receipt on a pad with carbon copies. They also had a full line of Proto tools. Any of you Arkies remember Hilton Bro.s in B'ville?

 

When I worked for NAPA I lost track of how much old inventory that was thrown out in dumpsters. One store they took over ,I snuck out a complete set of Olds 394 .030 Pistons
Old set of Jardane Headers and old Echlin Bee Hive coils. Trashed everything. Old Western Auto and guy did speed shop in mid 70s.
Had to make room for air fresheners and oil filter wrenches.
Try asking a parts store now for a High torque staggered pattern starter for SBC now. I can get if from Warehouse.

 

I can understand practically everything you've said about the operations of a chain auto parts house. The one thing that bothers me is if a company has a business model designed to sell the exact same stuff as it's competition, at the same prices as the competition, and paying the same wages and benefits as the competition, where's the profit in building a brand-new store next door to the competition? Cleveland, Tennessee's population is just shy of 48,000. It has one NAPA, three AutoZone's, two Advance, two O'Reilly's, two independents and two Walmart Auto Service Centers. If they are all doing the same things and offering the same services, how are any of them making money?

 

In their defense, remember when a dozen light bulbs filled 90% of applications? Now it takes half an aisle. Same with anti-freeze. Must be a dozen different flavors now. Behind the counter, there's hundreds of sensors for late models that have to be stocked. All takes space that may have had older car parts in once. As far as counter people, there's no excuse for them. Management just wants entry level people with some computer skills that are easy to replace when they move on.


Gary

 

Sales volume.

 

Ok, why do the big parts stores alway build right across from each other?




Bones

 

Think I already asked that question, Steve, and with respect to @gimpyshotrods, I don't believe sales volume is the answer if you have a limited number of local customers and an overabundance of parts houses, all doing the same exact thing.

 

Naw, man, like here in Muskogee O’Reilly’s was on North main, then Autozone came in a built right across from them! By doing that the left the whole South side of town without a parts house , and split the North side!





Bones

 

You need to look at the bigger picture.

Building across the street from the competition is a business strategy.

Large corporations can afford to operate certain stores at a loss, on purpose. It is a war-of-attrition.

They are trying to cause the competitive store to close, by undercutting them, and dividing their business, until it is too small to support their operations.

They can do this, because they have high-volume sales locations, in other areas.

It is still volume that makes this possible.

Where I am, Autozone is down to just one store, and that one will fail soon. The last one is dead-center between two O'Reily locations.

NAPA has a few more, but have a lot of commercial support contracts that keep them propped up, for now.

O'Reily is taking them all down, at different rates, even in adjacent cities.

Their income in 2021 was $917,000,000,000.00 ($917-billion, with a B).

They can afford to run their competition into the ground.

Autozone made less than half of that.

NAPA is a different business model, that does not directly compare.

 

That’s exactly why Autozone should have built on the Southside of our town and owned 1/2 the town instead of butting heads with O’Reilly’s and getting their asses kicked!
I thought it was stupid when Autozone built directly across from the already well established O’Reilly’s….and Autozone proved me right!
Just because corporations do something, it doesn’t really mean it makes sense!




Bones