I now know why the local speed shops are all going away.

The closest thing to a speed shop I've got in my town stocks nothing but wall to wall billet bolt-on's. To get anything even close to something I could use, they flip open the Speedway catalog, don't cover shipping or anything. So now I save myself the trip, and open up my Speedway catalog, and order on-line.

 

Can't beat the service I get at Centerline in beautiful dowtown Puyallup.....These Mom and Pop shop are the ones that'll spend time looking for a 10 cent part or let me sort through parts and the catalogs till I find what I'm looking for. Summit, Jegs and Ebay have their place.....They just in second.
Pat

 

It used to drive me nuts that Tognotti's is closed on Sundays 'cause invariably I'd need something from 'em that day...then I found out Sunday was race day for their family. That's good enough reason for me.

Bryan

 

DirtyT- I don't think anyone here is trying to piss in your wheaties.

My personal point is this.
I know that "My" speed shop isn't open on Sunday (or Saturday, for that matter-P.I.T.A. when Race season rolls around...) because I am there all the time.

I Understand why,too. I work 6 days a week here at my shop. it's freakin murder sometimes, but "it is what it is". The Speed shop here is run by a couple of older fellas, and dammit, they need a break! I can respect that. he's only been at it for 30 years, so I feel he's entitled. and besides. if I reeeally need something only my speed shop would have at 4 a.m. on a saturday, I probably need the sleep, and it's god's way of telling me to cut it out before I break something.

I dunno. I also have lived in a town where the only speed shop SUCKED and only carried V.W. stuff, and Holley rebuild kits. needed a twin weber set up for your 1200? gotcha covered! needed a pipe plug for a manifold? "Try ace hardware." lame.

I guess the reason I feel like talking about it is that the guys at the store-not the parts they carry- are what are important to me. I can ask Bill a question about some random car part I'm holding, and chances are pretty good he's dealt with one at one point. I respect the hell out of that. and considering that I work on perfectly random vehicles, it's nice to know that somewhere in Austin Texas, there is a man that knows the details and inner workings of a dodge poly distributor, knows you can't get parts for it, but DOES know what parts will get in it with the least amount of horror, will work, and will sell them to you for a nominal fee.

you can't get that from a catalog.

 

It seems to me unless you are in a large metro area most businesses other than the large chain stores have limited hours. Plan accordingly and support your local small business. I'll always try to buy local ( and we don't have shit for speed stuff here) before going elsewhere.

Bill

 

I was at UPS the other day and someone had a set of headers they where "sending back" to one of the stores (above). I thought that was to bad(not)! The shipping back was NOT free.

 

Race em on Sunday, sell em on monday! I still dont understand the whole motorcycle shop being closed on monday thing.

 

DirtyT, sorry you got your ass ripped by a bunch of amateur economists spouting off basics learned in High School.

I've worked in the small Mom and Pop shops in my early years. They couldn't get shit in the way of speed parts and if they could you'd wait forever to get it and pay an arm and a leg. You're doing what any smart consumer has the right to do - Choose!

As Dirty said, he only bought twice from the big guys, but his point is he can see why the small guys are being run out. Bottom line is $.

Most of us buy our small parts and do-dads from the local guys. But if I want to save 30-40 bucks at a time on larger parts, who cares? It's my damn money! That 30-40 bucks saved when buying big purchases adds up. More money for quick trips to by more small stuff from the local guys. That, my friends, also adds up.

Loyalty is one thing. Stupidity is another.

 

I live near Coultraps Speed Shop (now defunct)in Cadiz Ohio. That place was unbelievable. I remember going there in the 70's on a Saturday morning and taking a number and seeing #70 or 80 by 10:00. The place was out in the middle of nowhere and the owner felt bad if people came to the store and the shop did not have what they neeed so he stocked just about everything in mass quanities.

He would buy a semi tractor load of say Cragar wheels and sell them for cost if you bought 4 tires. He would sell a tractor trailor load or more in one day.

Place had 6-8 bays that would install whatever you bought. Lot's of Coal mines and steel mills in the area and guys had money. They would buy a new car and drop if off in the morning for headers, intake, wheels tires etc and pick it up later in the day.

Place shut down in the mid 80's due to some problems. A friend bought 300 sets of headers for a $1.00 a pair!!

I'm an older guy that thinks this country would be better off if everything closed by 1:00 on SATURDAY (O.k. 5:00 would be fine). I remmeber those hours and it was better as families would have more time together -Let alone just about everyone could go to that Sunday car show.

 

I like to stick local as well but noone around here except Old Dogs Street Rods has anything in stock and most hard parts like Gears and such they don't have therefore I use mail order just got a load from Summit today Had a spool that wasn't splined so I called and the new one should be here tomorrow and they are paying for shipping back.Its funny some peoples opinions on here and I do agree with being closed on sundays. My mail order pile of junk may fall apart but it'll run deep in the 12's doing it.Not bad for a pile of jap parts street rod though!

 

I'm lucky I guess. Our local speed shop "Hudson's Rod and Custom" is very competetive with pricing. Steve has been into hot rods, and racing a long time. You get knowledgeable answers to questions from a guy who has to look you in the eye when you come back next time. Most of the local guys shop price at first, when they find the difference is only a few dollars they are more than willing to support a local shop. Long live the "local speed shop"!

 

I don't have a problem with anyone being closed on sunday because it's sunday. The day of rest. However, they always closed at 1:00 on saturday around here and by the time i shook of my hangover and had some frozen burritos those sum bitches would be closed.

 

its a tough business to be in,you have to be able to buy in bulk to get the discounts ,and you have to secure your prices and make sure you are getting the best price (everytime)from the warehouse/manufactor.then theres shipping.(how much do you have to buy to get the shipping?)then you have to keep up with what the comp is selling the same part for.are they buying at your price?.its a full time job just keeping up with that stuff.....

 

sometimes it all comes down to location. Where I live it's 50 to 60 round trip to the "local parts guy". That's a hell of a long trip to hear "We'll have to order it". I'll order it, and watch UPS,FEDEX or DHL come up the drive using their gas and time. Has nothing to do with price, just simple common sense.

 

Just for laughs check out the current issue of Architectural Digest, there is a feature on the house of one of the principals of Jeg's, I think one of the sons,...the guy live in a mansion fit for a rock star!

 

There are plenty of other businesses who recognize the need to be open evenings and weekends to serve the customers, and are then closed for a day or two in the middle of the week. Pretty common in the motorcycle world.

But then again, most speed shops aren't there to serve customers, they're big toys for the owner. There are some good ones, but I've not been fortunate enough to live around one yet.

Shops love to talk about how once you become a regular, they'll draw you into the fold and offer improved pricing. But yet when a guy like me needs something they stock, they're only open one hour per weekday more than my job, and close at noon saturday. Ummm, what am I supposed to do? Take 20 afternoons off work to come down to their overpriced billet hoodscoop emporium to "develop a relationship" that will ultimately allow me to pay 10% more than summit, and drive 30 miles total to order and pickup?

And let's not forget the reason many of us turned to mail order, which was going to the counter with hard earned minimum wage dollars in hand trying to get the best part available. Then got "recommended" a part they had in stock. Parts that didn't work, and when looking back with more knowledge, were a total ripoff.

As I've said, there are good shops, but they are the minority. Overall, the mom & pop speed shop industry deserves what it's getting.

 

Nope....just delt with the SuperShops in Tacoma. I was there quite often and got to know a few of the guys.....always took care of me.

In Federal Way there's a speedshop, Honest Performance, I haven't been in awhile, that has (had?) a good selection of parts.....catered to the drag racer. Very knowledgable staff too. Took an MSD 6A there to have it checked out, tested it no charge, then gave me the instructions on hook up since I had bought it at a swapmeet.

 

well said Shifty,I am asked why I have my oil changed at Wally World.
I can go there on Sat evening,drop of my ride,walk across the street and eat with my wife ,or go to a movie and then retreive my car and go home. There is no-where in my town to get any work done without taking off work. If just one of them would try opening One night a week for tires or oil changes I would gladly use them.
I think what the original post was about was the lack of hours that the store was open,not the quality or the price.Regardless of what we would like ,the local speed shop guru is not an expert on everything,and I think we have the responsibility to know what we want and why.

Just my opinion,I could be wrong.

 

About the only thing the local speed shop is good for here is Holley carb parts. They have a very nice stocking of jets, springs, kits, shooters, etc. That's about it.

For most everything else, I'll order from Summit. The local shop wants to just bend you over HARD for the privelege of shopping there.

No thanks, I'll forego the ass reaming and buy my parts elsewhere.

Nick

 

My local speed parts shop is closed on Monday and Sunday. I do buy stuff from them even though they are a little more expensive than mail order. I have a small shop that does custom builds. I have 5 cars going at a time. I do have a wholesale resale cert and buy from the manufacturers. That is where the savings is if you can buy large amounts. If you have your own small business most of the time you can get jobbers rates.. When I move into my larger building I plan on being open Mon-Sat. No Sunday for me.. I need a bit of time for myself and selling one set of headers on Sunday isn't going to pay the bills for the day... EVILT

 

All someone has to do is ask to match a mail order price. I know the shops will do it or come within a couple of dollars of what the mail order has. I know I did it when I was in retail. They might not make any money on the sale, but they can get their add-ons to help.

So pricing shouldn't be an issue. Service should. You buy those cheap headers and they don't fit... if you get them at a shop... you drive them back and they deal with it. When the speedshop gets your replacement it, you can look at it and see if its correct.

If you bought them mail order YOU pay to get them back to Summit. Then the replacements get sent out and YOU pay freight again... and maybe have the same problem. Freight could be $30 each way... now who is saving money?

If you are missing a part out something you ordered... you talk to John (or whoever) behind the counter and they take care of the problem.

I'm basing my opinions with 14 years in the industry. I read the trade publications... I know what goes on.

I'm not working at a speedshop... I sell wholesale TO the shops. I see what they pay for shit and what Summit and Jegs give it away for.

I'm in the very heart of the performance aftermarket and I know where the problem is. So do big companies like MSD. They have a new pricing program coming to stop mailorder from ruining the profitability of their product. (Like ignition boxes that I buy for $183 and sell for $189 wholesale then inturn get retailed for $199)

They are stopping their product from being sold on Ebay as 'new.'

There are huge problems in this industry. Ask anyone in it (like myself, KustomF100, Lux, Kikkin...)

I think for the most part we would agree that mailorder price whores are the #1 issue for the demise of the mom and pop places.

 

Because we are doing the same shit you are, working on our own stuff and taking a day off. If I kept my shop open every weekend and all night for that one guy who wants to buy a set of $89 headers for me to make $5 on them I would get ZERO sleep and I would never have time to spend with the family.
Weekends are my time to have some fun and fun isn't working 7 days a week

 

Maybe I'm just too young (24) but I haven't ever heard of any "Speed Shops" in my area. The local Napa and Bumper to Bumper luckily have great parts guys who really know their shit, but other than that I make pretty much all of my purchases online. I like being able to browse and compare parts/prices easily, then I can research the part right away on boards like this. I'm sure many people hate online shopping but I have embraced it due to lack of other options.

 

Perfect.

At some point, a business is a BUSINESS.

If the business is catering to hobbyists, that demands that they be available when the hobbyist is going to be indulging his/her hobbies.

Sorry, I'm not building cars M-F 9am-5:30pm

I would be willing to bet that all you speed shop owners would DOUBLE your business being open Tue-Fri 2-10pm, and Sat 8am-10pm. Take Sundays off for racing and family. That's when your customer base is working on cars and needing parts. And you even get two days off.

 

Trust me I'm not a bit afraid to ask 'em to cut me a deal. I've had a hard fast rule for a very long time,"never pay retail."
Other than one or two of the really old guys around the local speed shops are run by schysters. They cater to the I'm haveing a mid life crisis and just took out a second on my house crowd and it seems like they want to retire on every sale.

 

That was my issue with SOCAL here in Houston.

By the time I got off work and fought my way up country to their shop around 6PM, they had closed. On Saturdays, I had better figure out what I needed before lunch or I would be ass out.

Not that big of a deal because I still got what I needed eventually, but it's nice when you can "put your hands on it". I'm more likely to buy something when I have it in my hands. I never went there and not purchased something.

They were open all day during the work day and not in the evenings. They weren't open long enough on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays.

 

I've been known to take care of my friends.

I just built a 283 for a buddy. Complete rebuild (balance and blueprint) from the bare block out. Machine work forged pistons etc way less than a grand includeing the original price of the mill.

But the clincher is I didn't buy any parts local other a couple of period pieces from Don Mann. He's one of the older established guys that will cut you a break, he's already made his money, took him over 40 years because he has always been easy to deal with.

 

I walked into the local speed shop looked around for awhile found a few things I was interested in buying. I asked the owner how much it was and the response I got was "this is a big boys toy shop if you gotta ask the price ya cant afford it" I put the shit down walked out and havent been back there since! ill drive 30 miles out before I will ever step foot in that shop again. high priced and bad service. Im sure not all shops are that way but if your in bussiness then customer service is number 1.

 

"My mail order pile of junk may fall apart but it'll run deep in the 12's doing it.Not bad for a pile of jap parts street rod though!" - usmc


I can't believe someone on here would be proud to say that!

TP

 

For what's it's worth folks, there is a small resurgence of SpeedShop's starting up in the country. Not alot, but a few.
The reason? ....to service the folks that do not have credit cards!