Who knew that there would be a Part Two to our January auto parts story? In that issue, Bruce Bertram and his boss Bill Hueter at S-G Parts of Ann Arbor explained how S-G, Viking, and Boyer, three independent parts dealers, had been swallowed up by Auto-Wares and united under the S-G name.
Now another shake-up is in progress. At press time it looked all but certain that the Big M Car Wash on West Stadium would be demolished to make room for an AutoZone auto supply store. Re/Max broker Doug Ziesmer, handling the seller’s side of the transaction, said that that property sale was contingent on city approval of the site plan, but “it’s a straightforward plan, a standard generic building,” and neither side was expecting any roadblocks.
Why would AutoZone want to put an auto supply store practically across the street from O’Reilly Auto Parts (and within a mile of the newly enlarged S-G)? Doug Aikenhead, business manager of Gallup Properties (and son-in-law of seller Charlie Gallup) says, candidly, “It baffled me too. But then I noticed that when you drive around and look at the auto parts landscape, they’re often in proximity. There might be a helpful symbiosis–like car dealerships. They all cluster together too.” In fact, on Washtenaw toward Ypsi, there’s another AutoZone right across the street from an O’Reilly.
Bruce Bertram over at S-G, consulted again, was dubious. “My personal thought is that there is a glut of stores already, and they’re fighting for diminishing pieces of the pie. My understanding is that AutoZone is geared toward do-it-yourself mechanics. But Ann Arbor is a place where people buy new vehicles and find someone to take care of them.” He adds that he’s retiring in April, so his observations are “fairly objective.”
Bertram also noted the disappearance of Carquest from Packard near Platt. “Carquest,” he explains, “was for many years Loveland Auto Supply, and they even had a machine shop.” But at some point–Bertram doesn’t know when, but says it could have been as much as twenty years ago, when auto parts businesses began coalescing into larger and larger chains and alliances–Loveland became part of the Carquest chain, and then in 2014, Carquest was absorbed by a bigger giant, Advance Auto, and began closing Carquest shops. A sign on the empty Packard store refers customers to an Advance store on Carpenter in Pittsfield Twp.
