bought a set of center lines from them back in the day. Still have the wheels someplace out in the garage...
Ahhh, Supershops... I always wondered what ever happened to the small pile of GOLD anodized aluminum Moroso valve covers that were inevitably laying on the bottom of the last shelf in every store I ever went into. Whoever mentioned Pro Tracs...M-50-15 were my favorite flavor. might as well not even attempt to balance those bastards...it wasn't gonna happen. or the bitchin Mickey Thompson Indy Profiles, for that matter. at least the Radial T/A's would last longer than a month and slightly reduced the 'Ol "rear end hydroplane" fun that went along with freaky square,flat tires....but damn...nothing made tire smoke like Pro Tracs.
They are going to have a helluva time competing with Jegs and Summit...I love ordering parts at 1:30am, in my bathrobe...scratching my nuts...I guess I could do that in person at the counter...
The Supershops in Tucson is now a discount tire. That was the first hang out spot for me when I started cruising Speedway. Hope they make a come back.
I(ashamedly) worked at the one in Memphis on summer ave. for a while in the early eighties we had some good guys there then, all were gearheads and street racers. I mounted my fair share off M/Ts on prostreet cars of the time.I quit shortly after some guy came thru and gave everyone working there a lie detector test. I thought that was the stupidest thing I had ever seen. all the other guys who posted on here about working at super shops probably know what Im talking about.It was also a hang out on fri. and sat. night, we would cruise from there to Racing Head Service down the road and watch street races on good ole sam cooper blvd . good times
Thats funny the one I used to go to in Tallmadge is an organic market. It was a bunch of cheap bolt on junk toward the end, looking like a larger version of Auto Zone's decal, valvecover, and eight ball door lock aisle. I also second the uneducated sales staff, and yes I've dealt with the other side of it and there is no excuse. Its the same problem I have at Summit now, you think when you bring the kid a current catalog with the part number you actually would be able to get the part without hearing about his thoughts on why you should buy something else. Its not easy dealing with the public and I lack the PC attitude needed but you think some kind general knowledge would be required. At least enough to know when to shut up and get the damn part. One of the last times I was there I had ordered a few things, the guy behind the counter wanted a break, already had my stuff on a dolly, and offered to cart it to my car. The kid chucked the parts beside my car and started to take off. I was loading the parts and double checking what was there when I came to this box I hadn't paid attention to. The only thing I had missing was a balancer, and it big enough for well twelve of them, and thats what it was, a whole case of balancers. My mistake was I tried to give them back and for the effort they accused me of stealing for keeping the one I paid for... I miss Midwest or even Wyans.
there where always some good burnout black marks in front of that store.i bought some stuff from there too. hope they do well.
Originally Posted by 35mastr Now thats a walk back in time.I remember the one that was on Stevens Creek Blvd.I hope they make it this time. That's the one I went to for BFG T/A's! I always got a kick outta guys putting stuff on lay-away!
It was always a treat to run up to Stockton as a kid and visit that place... I was 16 and like a sponge. Service Center was equally as cool... Sam
It was about ten years ago when the local Supershops here in Houston went down. The shop I was working for at the time bought all their equipment such as lifts, floor jacks, compressors, etc. For us, it was kind of a free for all of random left behind inventory like nitrous bottles, tires, fittings, etc.
I for one would love to see them reopen in N.C It would be nice to go in and put your hands on some parts before you ordered them and then had to send them back because they are wrong!
I remember the one in the San Fernando Valley on Van Nuys bl. and Vanowen. I use to love going there and just staring at all the rims they had.
I remember the one in Costa Mesa on Harbor Blvd, the rims, the carbs, the tires, I was intrigued by the widest 50 series tires .....
"Where? At the Super Shops, 4550 University Ave....in San Diego" went their commercial. As someone said they were the Guitar Center of speed shops and took down a lot of old indie speed shops that had been around through the 50's and 60's. In fact, I'm pretty sure the University ave. store was the old San Diego racing equipment. Further down the drag was The Chrome Barn and on University Ave in Lamesa was Service Center. I recall spending a lot of time just waling the aisles as a teen in the 70's dreaming of being able to afford all the gear; Mallory, Lakewood, Hooker, cragar, Centerline, etc. It's funny that I've driven past the current San Diego (ElCajon) Super Shop and thought it was amazing they were still around. Never knew it was the last store.
There were two Super Shops in Oklahoma City - one was up around NW 63rd & May and the other was on SE 15th in Midwest City. Bought shit from them all the time, pre-Internet. Always had what was needed, and were happy to order something if they didn't. I'm not crazy about mail-order these days!
What he said--"Stupid Shops" is what killed the small Mom & Pop-type speed shops. I remember we had a few old parts houses that had good speed parts,but Super Shops opened up in the next town over, and under-cut EVERYBODY. I only went in the place once--dumbest clowns working the counters--only things I bought there was a cold hot dog and a warm Coke on opening day.Think AutoZone ,but better stuff it the window.
Man, I practically grew up buying parts from SS. I remember when they opened a store in Amarillo when I was in high school....used to hang out and ogle the parts a lot, since I lived just down the street and went to school with most of the counter help. After I got older and had a job that paid enough to actually BUY parts I used to go to the store in Mesquite every weekend to buy parts for my Firebird. Some of the clowns at the counter were clueless, but there were a couple of guys that knew their stuff. There was a guy that had a pretty hot 5.0 Mustang that worked there, and there were a LOT of street races that got planned on a Saturday afternoon in the parking lot. There was nobody there who knew squat about Pontiacs, but I had researched and planned every part that went into that car, so all I need them for was to take my money. I still remember the time I had my car out and drove into the place to see who was racing that night. I pulled into the parking lot car alarms not only at the SS, but at the grocery store parking lot it sat in, went off. The car wasn't very loud at idle, but it ALWAY set off every car alarm within about 200'. When they went under, I bought almost every part in stock that fit Pontiacs for cheap...still have some stuff stashed.
Yeah I remember this chain being a young kid about 10-12 years old and seeing all the wheels lined up in the windows it was a treat to go in there back then. Here is another one from the way back machine remember Whitlocks that place kicked ass for a kid with a brain for a sponge
We had 2 in Motown's suburbs that I recall, 1 in Taylor and 1 in Redford. Both gone. The Taylor store is an eye care center, Redford bldg even though I pass it often, I can't remember whats there now. I bought a convertor for my bracket car from them. A local street racer that was "one of us" hooked me up pretty good. I don't know how they stayed alive as long as they did here. Most of the time the places were empty. A speed shop is a pretty tough call these days. My dear friend (and HAMB member) has opened Mayfair Speed back up. A struggle at best. It amazes me how mail order seems like the way to go. Not as far as I'm concerned. I like looking through the manufacturers books to get exactly what I need, by a real person, for a fair price, with free delivery, and the courtesy of a call when it arrives for special orders. Summit/Jegs is not free delivery. That's that handling charge. On some stuff it's truck frieght. They also won't stock or sell the things we might need. Mayfair does. I hope he keeps it going. I support him. I think it's a good time to bring back hot rodders with knowledge and enthusiasm for what we do vs a phone geek that knows what's on his screen. I hope Super Shops stays outta here for a good long time.
I gotta agree with those that say they were lots of Yahoos's working at the Stupid Shops stores. No Disrespect to those that did know something but too many counter guys didn't know shit. I wasn't some young punk that thought he knew everything when I went in. I had been a parts guy myself since the mid 70's and sympathetic to most parts guys. I asked for some float bowl gaskets for a Holley 600 vac sec at Santa Ana store (on the corner of 1st and Tustin, where unfortunately the manager got murdered by a disgruntled employee). First the clown says they don't carry them. I ask for a manager and he finally finds them but says they only sell them in packs of 10 or 100. I need 1. After 45 minutes of this BS I go to Santa Ana Speed and get my gasket and go on my way, and Larry doesn't even charge me for it. Same store - I need a dist cap, for a Mallory Dist (they own Mallory at the time I believe) and they can't find it anywhere in the book or computer so "it must not exist". I go home, pull out my own catalog, find the part number and go back. They manage to still give me the wrong one, I go back and they say "Sorry, we'll have to order it and there will be a special order charge and shipping fee". Since at this time they are the only Mallory game in town, I order it, get it and since I had similar experiences in the Costa Mesa Store I NEVER set foot in a Stupid Shops again. The funny part is years later I work with a guy who was head of purchasing for Harry and the whole SS chain and he says that the company was basically good with any warm body that would stand behind the counter for minimum wage. A few years after that I work at Hooker Headers with a guy who was a Sales Manager (now a big wig at Edelbrock) and he essentially agrees with my assessment. So, sorry to those few who might have known what they were doing but I think you were the minority with those stores.
I did a linelock burnout at Stupid Shops on Gessner in Houston once. Not the smartest guys in town at the time but if you needed jets, header gaskets, SBC shit they had it on Saturdays so we could make Rankin or Beltway 8 street races
The Ramona shop evaporated in a few months time...was basically a counter with a catalog and a young kid taking your order in a broom closet...got all excited when I saw the banner going up but wasn't surprised when it was taken down....hopefully other ones are doing better
We had one in Lakewood (Denver) Co. I bought a lot of standard stuff there but every sale special they had was for small block chevys. All my Ford parts had to be ordered in an were NEVER on sale. Still, I miss'em and we need them back.
I remember going in an purchasing a cowl hood for my sons nova,I admit the counter help wasn't the smartest in the world, bur have you tried O'rielys lately, when I bought the cowl the clerk couldn't find price in computor,(price was marked on cowl), @ $59.00, but sice he could't find , he sold it to me for $30.00, I even showed him the price tag. I hope the open up just for the compition to beat O'rielys.
I hated Super Shops. The one in Albuquerque had idiots as counter guys yet they did manage to put our oldest "real" speed shop out of buisness, he couldn't compete price wise and only a few of us seemed to value real service enough to pay extra. I ordered a set of 15x14 Weld wheels from them (had to pre-pay) for a customer car. Waited 6 month for them to come in, they would not refund my money, had to order a second set from Summit (I needed to deliver the car, couldn't wait for SS). When they finally came in they were (I kid you not) custom made 14" dia, 15"wide. The counter guy had written the order backward. Not only did they refuse still to give me back my money, that wanted me to pay this extra fee Weld had billed them for "custom" wheels!
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