I think we have finally learn that globalisation doesn't work. Hopefully it's not to late. I'm afraid the rest of the world doesn't play by the same rules as us. We have to deal with the EPA because we care about what we are doing to the enviroment unlike the third world who all they care about is making any money by any means. We need to finally cut off all the aid that we as taxpayers give to other countries. All those loans that we wrote off to other countries should never have been written off, will China do that to our debts hell no. I say it's time to batten down the hatches and look after number one for a change. When ever there's a major problem the USA is always expected to help out send aid etc. Did we get any help in Katrina from other countries, Hell no. Let's look after number 1 and to Hell with the rest of the world. Let the United Nations do what they were set up to do and leave us out of it.
I'll bey they spent a ton of money on matchbooks before they figured out how many were being wasted doing **** like this. Surely, I'm not the only one that remembers this.
Pep Boys here is the trashiest store in town. Its terrible. NOTHING is on the shelves, nobody knows where anything is, the floor is covered in spray pain, half the wl is painted one color, the other half was startd for a color change and never finished. The damn credit card machine screens DONT work. You cant buy anything with a credit card unless you happen to catch the good line at the right time. No wonder theyre going out. I called that years ago when i first went into the store here. They can't compete with Advance Auto Parts 3 locations and two NAPAs here
Interesting, didn't the catalog from earlier in this post say they were "Since 1931"? Speed shop in L.A., for tuners like their regular stores cater to?
The Pep Boys store in Rockford closed last year. The store was full of Chinese carts, dirt bikes and various other things they couldn't move. The overhead had to be killing them. The facility was huge for a parts store but there was no focus on the core. A guy could buy racing seats or stainless headers for a Honda or Mitsu, amybe 1000 ft. of neao if he so desired. Forget getting cam seals for a 2.2 Dodge or or an alternator for an old ****** though. Experience behind the counter was a **** shoot like most box stores. The managers would defend ignorance behind the counter instead of using opperunities to train help better. I had to teach one kid how to use a seal catolg. He had to ask his boss where they were kept! His boss acted like I was the problem, working on a 40 year old car trailer. The kid was greatful for the knowlege. He had never seen a numeracle listing, or a chart with dimensions. Mismanagement is their problem. They forgot quality and just needed to squeeze out every penny from every possible "profit center"
When I needed dual carb. manifolds, aluminum heads or headers for my 41 Merc. back in 56 I went to Pep Boys also they had rebuilt strombergs right on the shelf. Western Auto had the same speed equipment, ah the good old days.
I guess I should go buy some stuff with all the pep boys gift cards I have, before they're worthless.. Billy
I have heard about the financial status of Sears like everyone else, but I have a little inside scoop about Craftsman Tools. I won't say who it is, but she usually turns the light off at night for me when I hit the hay. Earlier this year, they were downing their forecast for orders. Now they are upping them and the company that makes their mechanics handtools can't keep up with demand. What gives there? The same production lines make Matco, Craftsman, Armstrong, and several other name brands. Only differences are finish and alloys of the forgings. Craftsman tools are going to a lot of other places than to Sears and Kmart. A lot of the auto parts houses are starting to sell them now, and the United States Marine Corp is using them also. If Sears bites the dust, Craftman Tools will likely live on.
How come everyone just blames "China", and doesn't mention anything about the hoards of people trampling employees at WalMart to get at all that Chinese stuff, on sale for $.23 less than the day before? Anthow- Pep Boys is just trying to do too many things to do something well. Here, they sell ATV's, Dirt bikes, Tires, oil Changes and all kinds of other chach- plus have a Auto repair shop that has to compete with WalMart. - there's that Wal Mart, again.
Napa here, Baxter's (hmm) both ok. Sometimes Autozone has stuff you wouldn't think of having or can get. Shock for my 59 wagon, Idler arm for a friend's 66 Fury wagon (instock) A few Pep boys here, one in Puyallup . Never been in the stores.
The PepBoys that was nearby closed over two years ago. There are two stores left in the entire metro area. Not that they are missed by anybody - it took those clowns six hours to mount and balance a set of tires for me! I had a tire going down on my tandem-axle car hauler once and pulled in to get it fixed, since it was nearly 8 pm and the place I usually frequent was closed for the evening. The clown says "our jack won't pick that up"; to which I walked over, got a floor jack, jacked the trailer up, and asked "what did you say again?"...they fixed it. In an hour. Pep Boys deserves to go ***s up. They, and AutoZoned, are the two absolute worst "parts stores" ever. They can set you up if you want some plastic **** for a late model, but if you need actual parts, fuggetabou***!
I was in a PB right after Xmas getting tires for my son's car. They had a deal, buy 3, get 1 free. So we leave the car, come back 3 hours later and they haven't touched the car yet! It was supposed to be done. So I ***** a bit and they bring the car in. We wander about the store and mix up merchandise on the shelves to show our appreciation. Another 1.5 hours later and it was done. I busted tires as a kid and 2 guys could get 4 tires on a car in 15 minutes without breaking a sweat. They must love paperwork, I was amazed at how many copies of this and that the register spit out. Fast forward to a week, my son gets a flat and it was shot, something went through the sidewall. My son changes it and snaps off a stud, the jokers had cross threaded it when they did the tires. So we go back and the mamager manned up and replaced the tire and stud at no cost, the tires did have a road hazard warranty on them. After taxes and other BS and 2 hours, we were out of there to the tune of $24. Each time I was there, they were not even close to what I'd call busy. And some of the "mechanics" there, whooooo boy. What a sorry looking lot of rejects that must have washed out of any legit shop in the area. Like PB is the last stop to the shallow end of the auto repair gene pool. I have bought tires there in the past and have been happy with things, but after this last trip, the place can dry up and blow away as far as I'm concerned. Bob
the 2 pep boys i drive by here in dallas has shut down, i bought all kinds of junk for pennies on the dollar when they had there sale.. wOOt
Hey KreaturesCCaustin, Amen to that! Here in Central NY, Advanced Auto is a complete joke, Pep Boys is OK, Auto Zone is very good as far as knowledgeable people and NAPA always has everything...BUT they gotta get it from the warehouse. Brian
Can't stand Pep Boys, I have had too many problems with them. The only time I go to their store is when there is absolutely no where else to go. I have returned more faulty alternators to that store than I care to remember. (Seven to be exact, on one car.) Better buy the warranty. Their futura line of tires are junk. The sidewalls always bubbled out. Might as well get the warranty, you're gonna need it. They don't take used motor oil. I had front struts put on a car only to have one go out 2,000 miles later and they didn't support my caliper so I had to replace the broken brake line to boot. I won't be crying when they go.
I like that, Kmart is around the corner from my house. Much better than the other big box stores near me. It's not what they love, but what they have. The just keep it running at any cost. Not a bit... I have the same problems with them that I do with all the other foreign owned corporations and the way they do business, at least Citgo bought heating oil for the poor last winter. I think they're doing it again this year.
its funny how many posts say that there is an O'Reilys sitting new but empty. We have 2 napa's, 2 Advance, 2 Autozone and they built a Oreily all by itself and its been sitting empty for months, lights on and shelves are up, nothing else.
Pep Boys... only go there in a pinch. This chain bought or got the realty company owner to knock down a big historic movie theatre, probably the only one in this area outside of one downtown that hadn't been divided up into multiple screens, still had the big neon sign up and everything... so they could build a Pep Boys.. that was only open about 4 years before they gave up and closed it. Sears/K-mart it seems to depend on the location, one K-mart here always seems busy, one I drive by now and then in the next city always seems dead. Small Sears in one mall always seems dead, ones in the big malls always seem busy. I sure wouldn't buy a ratchet anyplace else, I tried a Harbor Freight ratchet that was on sale cheap and the first time I tried to use it, it just spun around. On the bright side when I returned it the girl gave me the regular price for it instead of the sale price. Makes you wonder how they stay in business, too. I half expect what will happen is everything will reverse itself, as the Chinese become more affluent and middle cl***, our gov't will keep printing money until it's all worthless, and we'll end up getting manufacturing back again when the minimum wage becomes the equivalent of about 50 cents an hour. Of course it will be like living in the third world for a couple generations, but what the hell, we're all going to die because of this global warming anyways right? Meanwhile, if I need parts now I look it up at RockAuto.com first. A lot of times even with shipping it's cheaper. I bought an EGR valve and a motor mount for my late model beater there. Something else, too, I forget. The motor mount was $10 there, cheapest local was Advanced at $25. Came in a box with a Parts Plus sticker on it.
Can you say "over saturated market"? I knew you could! Just how many box stores can one locale utilize? Some stores were in the planning stages when the economy was doing better. Now things are a bit different and sales are deffo off from what was expected. Bob
Heard that Peep boys is hurting and is on one of the 25 companies to be buried. Wonder what a Manny, Moe, and Louie (Jack) sign would be worth? I used to like shopping there as they had most of the stuff out on the aisles, instead of being behind the "know it all" counter. Had all the old car catalogs out there too. Going the Western Auto route, DOWN.
Western Auto? Around here they were Wheels Auto, same owner as a local drugstore chain, they had a chain like Staples stores, too. They sold the Auto side to Western Auto when Sears owned it. Then eventually Sears sold out and they became Advanced Auto. (meanwhile, JC Penneys got the drugstores, which became Eckerds, then this year they became Rite-Aids).
I agree with the majority of comments about Pep Boys, clearly the place to go for a p.o.s. trailbike or a fart pipe for your Honda, all served up with a bad at***ude at the parts counter and checked out by the gothic princess at the register. A friend of mine went into the local Autozone a few years ago to get a few ignition parts for his GTO. Tells the young person at the counter he needs a set of points, condenser, rotor ****on and cap for a GTO. (wait for the payoff here) The young man says....What's a GTO? One of the others says....I think it's an Oldsmobile! The young person says.....Well I don't know, they quit making Oldsmobiles! My friend wisely left and went to NAPA. At least Autozone accepts your used oil! I always go to NAPA. Real car guys behind the counter. If they don't have it now, they will have it by 10:00 AM the next day. Personal experience story about a trip into AutoZone. I walk in and ask for 8 AC R45TS spark plugs. The counter person wants to know what they go in. I asked them to walk back to the spark plugs and get 8 of them off the shelf, and skip the cyber-interrogation. Counter person says they can't do that. So I asked them again to just walk back to the spark plug shelf and pick up 8 R45TS plugs. Again the cyber-interrogation. So I give up and tell them it's a 1931 Hupmobile. Of course that does not compute! Finally the manager comes over to light the world with his special knowledge, and then goes to the shelf to get the plugs. He comes back with 5 only. "That's all we have, he says." That'll work just fine in my V5, I say. No, I need 8. We can have them in 3 days, he says. Thanks, but no thanks, and I'm on my way to NAPA again. The only reason I check at AutoZone is that it is less than a mile away and NAPA is on the other side of town. I would hate to see the folks at Pep Boys lose their jobs, cause I don't know how many of them know how to cook fries, but it will not be much of a loss to the automotive world!
It's actually too bad, they're the only chain around here that you can count on to turn rotors & drums. Most NAPAs won't turn a rotor anymore. That's total ********. They may be a generic cheeseball chain, but at least one old-school fundamental was remembered.
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