Hot Rods Jegs sold

The WORLD is on a downworld spiral .

 

If they offshore stuff I'm done also..................

 

Uhhh , they already do ..

 

Hopefully Summit will capitalize on this and step up.

 

Jeg or his family was probably glad to sell it . Not much of a future for what they sell.

 

Glad I bought my wheels before this took place. Jegs was the only place that had the size I wanted in stock at the time.

Jegs has always been more oriented toward drag racing and fast street cars. Not as much there for our cars, but they do have some stuff that fits in, like the wheels I bought. I have never bought much from them, usually use Summit or Speedway, but the stuff I have gotten from them was top notch. Wonder how long before the bean counters start outsourcing and replacing stuff with cheap copies?

Oh, and I like the free hats, too. I didn't even get a sales catalog with my last two orders from them.

 

In many cases it is working out just fine. What you would call success is not what the investment group would call success.

In many cases the plan is to use any profits to offset debt, and then load the company up with more debt, then bankrupt it. It is a common technique to make debt vanish, just not for folks like us.

It is called Debt Loading, if you want to look it up.

It is profoundly unethical, but, in most cases, perfectly legal.

 

Understood and point taken. I don’t like it that these places are getting bought out by investors that only care about the profit any more than you do.

 

Danchuk is going out of business too.
Art & Dan Danchuk Retiring - Retail Store Closing
After over five decades and millions of parts made and sold Art and Dan Danchuk are retiring.

 

What I was told was that they were no longer going to sell retail themselves. That their products will still be available just through other retailers.

 

All I know is what I copied off their website. there is very little for sale on there

 

Its a sign of the times, sadly. The old pioneer car guys that wanted to build something for their families were concerned about products that were high quality the customers wanted. Many established the businesses we all know and love.
Then, as the founders grew older, the desire and ability to continue fell off. Sometimes their children wanted to carry on in their parents foot steps and those businesses continues on, and some even grew, but some the children had little or no interest in what their parents did, and those companies either disappeared or were bought up by other companies. That may, or may not have ended well.
Time marches on, cars have changed, rules covering racing has changed, customers have changed. The companies that managed to keep up with the times are still here, those that didn't were either bought up, or faded away. The companies so many of us loved are on 2nd, and maybe 3rd generation owners, or have been bought (and sold) several time since their humble beginnings. Just in case you haven't looked around, the demand for those old parts that were so important to many of us isn't very high anymore, and there is not enough demand for those old parts for any company to survive on those parts alone, like it was back in the day of the company's inception. They have to update to what most customers want now, or they will die, and those products the modern customers want don't look like what most here want. The old companies that have produced the product we have demanded for years now have a choice to make. Offer products the modern customers want, stick with the old stuff and die a slow death, or sell out, retire, or close. Some might be able to hold on a bit longer (the last few years has been tough on nearly every business), but as age of the current owners grows, or the companies that have been sole off many times already, are facing dimensioning opportunities as young people don't seem to have the desire to buy and carry on those old companies, nor do they have the buying power they need to purchase an operating business.

 

Don't forget J&M Speed Center in Riverside. Bought the headers for my '65 Falcon 2 dr. wagon there in 1969. They were a real speed shop then and still are. San Bernardino Racing did sell speed parts (bought the Holley for my wagon there) but even then they were more into selling wheels and tires. JMO.

 

I once worked for a national (large) company that was purchased by an investment group. During the phone conference call (about the purchase) that ALL employees sat in on, the dude said that they are a holding company, and had plans to hold on to us for up to 5 years. After 6 years, the purchased company was totally screwed over, and our local office shut it doors.

 

Buying a company that takes a loss as a tax write-off is never a net-gain.

But neither is offering products that don't make a profit. If some of the stuff they used to sell doesn't sell well enough to come out ahead, they're just not going to have it anymore. That has more to do with changes in demand in the market and nothing to do with the management style of the owners.

 

Hate to see that but on the other hand One of my former employers and another business that I did a decent amount of business with and sent a number of people to both went under because the adult children weren't capable of running the business and both owners closed down successful businesses.
One was even advertised on here at one time in the classified. Turn key business with good employees except the owner's son. Just because the children were raised in the business doesn't mean that they are capable of running the business or can't keep their nose away from the nose candy.
I agree on the investment group running a business into the ground with their "cost cuts" I've seen that too many times and seen too many cases where they bought a company just to break it down and sell off individual parts. That won't work in this case but you can bet that a lot of parts that were slow movers won't be stocked anymore and won't even be listed as special order item.
That said if a part is still manufactured we can always go to the manufacture and ask "Do you have a distributor or retail vendor in my area?" If they don't sell direct they will send you to their distributor or who they deal with in your area.


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Most of the old-time salvages in this area are gone, when all the mail-order parts places go out of business it's sure gonna be hard to build anything.

 

In my observations of local businesses that were once successful, I have found that they usually die after 3 generations. The first generation barely makes a living, but gains trust in the community. The second generation streamlines the business, making it extremely profitable and expanding it. By the time the third generation takes over, there are way too many family members involved, which are cousins at that point, and probably don’t get along. They have become accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle that they are unwilling to work for.

The businesses eventually become a shadow of what they once were, go bankrupt or get bought out by investors with great ideas that seldom pan out. The sad reality is when a business is successful, anyone with a passion to run it, probably can’t afford to buy it.

 

Then we will scrounge swapmeets and pay the “where else you gonna find it” price

 

Well no one will be bitching about shipping cost !

 

This is a little OT but, I feel It’s indicative of the new business model or at least a by- product of the new norm for the COVID/Supply chain world.

Last month I ordered a set of steel wheels for a future project from Summit.
After 2 weeks I noticed the shipping status showed order cancelled. I have been trying to call them for a week now. Every time I have been on hold for at least 30-45 minutes and finally just give up.

They were showing in stock when I ordered them. I didn’t cancel them, so what gives? Eventually, I will call and get a live person and maybe they can answer.

 

I have worked for several companies that were bought out. Most became a less desirable place to work, leading to
changes in personnel, eventually loss of business. In one case it led to more opportunities due to better financing.
The biggest problem I saw was a business that knew its core business thinking that made it able to run any business
so it buys another business and finds that its expertise does not translate. Even when in the same industry the culture differences can be enough to ensure failure.

 

Rarely ever used them anyway. Always go to Summit as first choice.

 

If the gloom-and-doom predictions are correct and the new owners of Jegs do a horrible job and run the business into the ground think of the opportunity that leaves for others. No....it doesn't have to be a huge operation like Jegs, but instead a speed shop like in days gone by. My circle track oriented shop had customers that drove up to 2 hours to buy parts. They could have bought them online but I tried to hold prices competitive with the online places and people seemed to prefer to buy face-to-face. There are warehouses are all over the country to source parts.

Lynn

 

Ive used Jegs twice and both times they ballsed up my order and had appauling customer service, so not so much of a loss in that respect.

However the general loss of these types of suppliers is sad news, even more so for those of us relying on international shipping. Most places wont even consider shipping to the UK anymore. Id be shafted without Rock Auto lemme tell ya!

Enjoy your junkyards while you have them boys, pretty much no such thing here anymore let alone US vehicle stocked.

 

I went to 10 swapmeets last year. Petit Jean, Chickasha and 8 in Texas. I have many ol cars from the 1930s and 50s and I am looking for many ol parts. 10 swapmeets and I couldnt find ANYTHING I am looking for. Ordinary things like 33/34 Ford pickup rear fenders. I have never had a problem finding parts in the last 50 years but we are nearing the end. I hate it but its true. Snyders catalog shrank dramatically, Danchuk, Jegs, junkyards. The end is near. Thats not pessimistic, its just a fact

 

This could explain why I haven't received a Jegs catalog in the mail for awhile.

 

what is a mystery to me is how jegs has stayed in business as long as they have, absolutely the worst customer service out there. i think that's a result of the owner not being involved in the day to day operations and the manager who probably was drawing a huge salary for doing nothing

 

I have bought a lot of stuff from Jegs, however I don't begrudge any family from cashing out. Most good companies are built on long hours, dedication because they loved the business and along the way hard times and reduced salaries and some sleepless nights. In many ways cashing out may even be doing another generation a favor rather then taking over ownership and running of the business.

The Private Equity companies (PE’s) have a pretty simple formula even though it all starts out with "Nothing is going to change".

1. Reduce Payroll: This usually starts at the top with highest salaries with the result going directly to the bottom line. Unfortunately the highest salaries are usually the most experienced, dedicated innovators that made the company what it is.

2. Reduce Inventory: No use having all that money sitting on a shelf in the warehouse. Unfortunately the ability to ship on demand may have been one of the best attributes of the company. Screw the customers.

3. Shake Down Suppliers: Make demands to suppliers to reduce cost to the PE that are unrealistic. Reduce prices or else we will find someone else. The demands usually include holding dedicated inventory (see #2) the PE can ship immediately or ship direct to customers in PE logo boxes. Suppliers finally get to point it's no longer profitable. PE's then have part/parts reversed engineered in companies in countries I can't pronounce or spell. Customers get low quality junk at the same price they were paying or sometimes higher. Screw the customers.

The downward spiral begins then PE's take the money and run leaving once good companies gutted and in shambles beyond the point of recovery. Bankruptcy Lawyer’s enter to try and reorganize and take even more money. I once worked for a company that was taken over and then owned my own Sales Rep business that sold products to companies that were taken over. In the end everyone loses except the Private Equity company that started the vultures circling. That said it's hard for small companies and family owned businesses to compete in todays world with so much competition from larger companies and offshore products. We are probably all guilty from buying from the cheapest source rather then supporting local businesses. Even the local businesses are guilty for doing the same thing. My opinion your mileage may vary.