Magazine for the professional tire industry
Issue link: https://mtd.epubxp.com/i/328077
21 www.moderntiredealer.com W hen it comes to stocking auto parts for service and repairs, tire dealers have a lot of options. Do you use one main supplier or multiple sources? What atributes should you look for in a supplier? Timely delivery is critical. So are price, volume discounts and credit terms. We talked to three tire dealerships in the Northeast Ohio area to fnd out how they handle parts-buying. Conrad's Tire Service Inc. has 34 locations in the Cleveland-Akron area. Parrish-McIntyre Tire Co. runs two retail stores in the Akron area, while Tire Source has fve locations in the Akron-Canton area. All 41 stores are located approximately in a 60-mile radius. Parrish-McIntyre and Tire Source use computers that are tied-in with their primary parts suppliers to order their auto parts. Tey say fast delivery is the top priority. At Conrad's, the company has become its own distributor; it stocks its 7,000 square-foot warehouse operation through a major distribution group's program and sells internally to the 34 retail stores. Each dealership's retail store has its own parts inventory. We asked their managers how they stock their parts, how auto parts distribution has changed over the years, and where it is headed. MTD: What parts do you stock in your retail stores? Pat Stuhldreher, district manager, Tire Source: We use a national program distribution group as our preferred supplier and they handle all of our stocking levels. Most of our deliveries get here in 30 to 45 minutes. Since there are so many diferent part numbers today, we have reduced our inventory to flters, bulbs, some belts and bateries. We've signifcantly reduced our parts inventory in the last fve to 10 years. Mike Spitale, manager, Parrish-McIntyre Tire's east Akron location: All we stock is air flters, oil flters, small bulbs and belts. Everything else we buy on an as-needed basis. When we used to have more commercial accounts, they had feets with the same cars and we used to stock brake parts and other parts for those specifc model-year cars. Now we don't stock as much because it's just too difcult to keep an inventory here when in 15 minutes I can have anything I want. Dan Cochran, a sales manager at Conrad's Tire Service, Cleveland: Each one of our retail stores carries an inventory so that they can pull as much as they can of of their own shelves for their immediate needs. Te retail stores inventory brake pads, brake rotors, chassis parts, belts, flters (oil, air and cabin), and a wide array of chemicals and wiper blades. Tose are supplied to our stores from our warehouse. MTD: How much do you stock? Stuhldreher, Tire Source: Dollar value, I'd say $7,000 to $10,000 per location. Tat amount has been prety steady over the last couple of years, but it will be shrinking in upcoming years. Five to 10 years ago, we carried anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 in parts inventory per location. Over the years it has been going down. We used to stock multiple part lines, suspensions, alternators, those kind of parts. Spitale, Parrish-McIntyre: Everybody in this industry has cut their inventories back on everything. Parts suppliers are trying to get from their door to yours in 20 minutes or less to make it convenient. Tey have main warehouses and small litle satellite stores around that help take care of us. As far as parts are concerned, everybody's back room inventory has shrunk. Cochran, Conrad's: Te amount we stock in our retail stores is sales-based. Tere's a constant fow of items that come on their shelves, and if they buy a part from the warehouse or from a local jobber associated with our program group vendor enough times to generate an order point, they'll have Te incredible shrinking parts inventory Retail dealers have more space to play with thanks to half-hour delivery, but that is not all they want from their distributors By Bob Bissler feature Ten years ago, the parts room at the Tire Source's west Akron location was flled with hard parts; today, inventory consists of flters, bulbs, belts and batteries.