No matter the time of year, things are always buzzing at Dom’s Auto Parts. The company diversified its part offerings immediately before COVID hit, adding motorcycle and motorhome parts to its U-Pull yard. Despite the all-too-familiar supply chain challenges of 2021, Dom’s has seen a boom in business, especially in requests for parts they hadn’t carried previously.

“More and more customers are coming to us looking for parts—but a large chunk of those customers never used to look to us for these kind of parts,” said Dom Vetere, owner of Dom’s Auto Parts.

Going forward, Vetere has high hopes that keeping these newly sought-after parts on hand will help to expand his loyal customer base. “If we meet their request with that particularly hard-to-get part, they’re that much more likely to become a repeat customer,” said Vetere. “The industry needs to realize we have many more parts available than they ever knew— they’re just realizing it now because of supply chain issues.”

Business hasn’t been the only thing booming at Dom’s this year.

“We started working with the Durham Regional Police this year,” said Vetere. “They’ll request specific vehicles from us and we’ll supply them for bomb exercises and other training.” The whole journey is documented on the business’s TikTok, @parts_4_less_u_pull. All in all, Vetere says he anticipates 2022 to bring more great things to the business—but he also notes that salvage costs are unlikely to dip back down to pre-pandemic levels.

“I don’t see it dropping down anytime soon,” he told Canadian Auto Recyclers. “It’s challenging to acquire salvage nowadays,” said Vetere. “You need to be both inventive and careful with what you spend. Luckily for our team, we’re pros at both.”