I've been in the automotive parts business all my adult life, primarily the aftermarket. Got started at NAPA before it was NAPA.
Went to work at the Genuine Parts Company's distribution center on Wilkinson Blvd in 1974. Back then in Charlotte you had GPC with 6 stores and everything else was mom & pop stores which all closed at 1:00pm on Saturday, including the GPC stores. But the main warehouse ( distribution center ) was open until 4:30pm on Saturday. So on Saturday's between 1:00 and 4:30 that place was a madhouse, only place in Charlotte that was open. But it's where I got a solid foundation in the business. The best guys I ever worked with were on this job. #1 was Wayne Holder, had more knowledge stored away in his head than any computer. #2 was Bruce something or other. Great attitude and really knew his stuff. I learned from him how to handle the problem customers, regardless of the issue or who was right or wrong.
1975-76 we went to a meeting in downtown Charlotte where they rolled out the NAPA program with the gold & blue hats. Somewhere in 1976 I left NAPA and started selling race car parts, been doing it ever since. Never thought I'd still be doing this long.
So as most of you know it's almost impossible to walk into a auto parts store at random and have them find something for you without asking for the make & model of the car, engine size, 2 door, 4 door, bucket seats. color, etc. I come from an era where if a guy wanted brake shoes for his Impala most of us just went to the shelf and brought back what he wanted, didn't have to look anything up. Some of those part numbers are still stuck in my head.
I know cars are vastly different and the whole damn world has changed. I'm just a nostalgia kind of guy I guess. Recently we had a discussion at work about this very subject. The question was asked, "Could an independent auto parts store with a couple of really good, experienced employees make it today?". We decided they could not regardless of the level of customer service they could offer because they would not have the buying power of the big chain stores.
I shop at Auto Zone more often that anywhere else simply because they're less than 2 miles away. I use their app to look up what I need before I get there. And if it's something behind the counter they still ask me for the make and model of the car, as I'm standing there holding my phone showing them what I want. Hell, I've been doing this since before most of the Auto Zone employees were born. But they gotta ask, I guess.
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