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Are we seeing the “Home Depot” effect in the Auto Parts Industry?


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The Carquest acquisition only really helped us (the repair facilities). They now are the biggest distributor for the commercial segment, and added other part houses to the mix like Worldpac. Advance Commercial is giving Napa a run for their money. That is always a good thing, because competition keeps ppl honest.

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Joe's analogy is correct. The Advance acquisition of CarQuest came early to my area. The change was NOT good, no benefit only detriment. The Advance DIY business model was apparent to me based on the following: 1) Increased cost and list pricing. 2) Elimination of parts required by us but not required by the DIY's. 3) Print and radio spots offering "no charge" code reading, battery tests and battery replacements which not only placed Advance as my competition but also degraded the knowledge, equipment and effort required to diagnose a modern vehicle to a mere "no charge" accommodation.

 

Now the good news concerning Joe's last sentence about the big guys not changing. On Friday afternoon I received a call from a member of a business investment research firm who was hired by a group of investors to review Advance Auto Parts as a possible investment opportunity. This gentleman contacted me and reviewed my feelings about Advance because in the past I had posted comments about Advance on Auto Shop Owner. We need to know that our comments, praise or criticism, are being viewed by other people and some of them are Wall Street people. We never had an independent public platform that could reach so many people before. I am ashamed to say this but I never talked about business with shop owners in my immediate area no less the amount of people this forum reaches. We need to talk, we need to realize and understand that we are all facing similar problems and maybe together with careful consideration and open discussion we can make a change. Thanks again Joe for another great post.

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The dealers in my outlying areas are becoming very commercial friendly. They see the opportunity. They come down from 100 miles away every day so we can put their parts on cars they aren't going to normally see, I like buying from the dealer the parts fit right and don't advertise free diagnosis.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         5 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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