If one thing can be said of progressive automotive recyclers, it’s that they have the capacity to recognize and anticipate the growing needs of their customers. Nowadays it is becoming increasingly common for leaders in the industry to branch out into different fields, offering a wider range of services to the customer.

The addition of new aftermarket parts is one of the most common ways that the industry is seeing automotive recyclers diversify into other areas. Such is the case for Thunder Bay Auto Parts, a full service auto recycler located in Thunder Bay, ON. Lisa Sticca, Co-Owner of the recycling facility, has been selling aftermarket collision replacement supplies for ten years. In fact, Thunder Bay Auto Parts is Northwestern Ontario’s largest in-stock supplier. So why does a professional automotive recycler sell new parts? Lisa’s response is that the entire decision was  driven by a desire to better serve customers.

NORTHERN PERSPECTIVE
“This is purely a northern perspective. The aftermarket is what we’ve been driven to,” says Lisa. “We had to supplement with the aftermarket because of lack of salvage.”

For Lisa, the move to the aftermarket has been met with much success. It’s how Thunder Bay Auto Parts keeps their customers happy.

“Otherwise we’d be sending our customers away every day,” Lisa says. Moreover, Lisa has seen the effect that this has had on the auto industry. Dealerships have responded and are reportedly beginning to drop their prices in an effort to stay competitive.
Thunder Bay Auto Parts has also recently launched the Beta version of a new web site, called justparts.com. After registration, users can log in and not only buy parts, but sell them as well. So far the site has received a lot of interest from professionals, including several registrations from U.S.-based customers.

BRANCHING OUT
For Michael Carcone of Carcone’s Auto Recyclers, diversification is not only a way to meet the need of customers, but it’s also an opportunity to branch out and help rid auto recycling facilities of the stigma that is often attached.

“A lot of people don’t understand the amount of auto recyclers that have diversified and have secondary businesses. They still tend to think of us as owning large junk yards,” he says.

Michael has been in the wheel refinishing business for the past 12 years. He got the idea when he observed a need to supply this service to his customers simply because the only wheels that they could offer were ones that were trashed, bent, or corroded, and therefore unable to sell.

More than a decade later, wheel refinishing at Carcone’s Auto Recycling is a full fledged business of its own. And although it has been especially successful this past year – becoming ISO certified and switching to waterborne paint – Michael says that wheel refinishing at Carcone’s Auto Recycling is still secondary to the primary goal: providing collision repair professionals with high quality, used OEM parts.

This past year Frank Serravalle of Thorold Auto Parts & Recycling underwent a similar change to the one Carcone’s Auto Recyclers encountered 12 years ago. Though Frank is among auto recyclers like Lisa Sticca who have been diversifying since the opening of the business, the most recent way that he has ventured into new territory has been through the introduction of headlight and taillight refinishing. Like Michael, Frank’s aim in this endeavour was nothing more than the desire to offer the very best quality to his customers.

PRIME CONDITION
Because very few of the lights that come into the yard were in prime condition – most of them being scratched – Frank found it necessary to refinish the lights so professional repairers and the public could buy them from his yard at a reduced cost and in a good-as-new condition.

However, it was since the opening of Thorold Auto Parts in 1982, that the business has been selling both certified and rebuildable vehicles. Frank recognized the need to serve their customers in this way early on.

“We had a lot of clients who were asking for vehicles ready to go,” he said. Frank has 4000 certified vehicles and new stock arriving on a regular basis, and more recently Thorold Auto Parts expanded their rebuildable vehicle operation to over 75 cars.   

For Jeff Lanoue of A&L Auto Recyclers, taking a step in a different direction is an economic strategy that he hopes will ensure success. “Because of the winter months ahead, revenue will begin to slow down. Not too many people will want to come to the yard to do u-pull.”

As a result, Jeff and the team at A&L Recyclers have begun to do something they never have before: vehicle servicing. Installations and tire pulling are among some of the things that the business has implemented recently. Not only does it help to bring in the revenue, which is always nice, but it also gives long time customers an alternative place to have their cars serviced.

Whether auto recyclers are driven to diversify because they need to, or because they desire to, one thing is certain. Recyclers always diversify for the sake of providing the ultimate possible level in customer satisfaction. And with the continued move toward secondary businesses within the industry, auto recyclers can be assured that they are taking the proper steps to erase the junkyard label and broaden the impact of modern, progressive automotive recycling.