Piston Engine Parts, known locally as Don Gross Warehouse, put down roots in Los Angeles in 1976, Gross said.  A second location in San Diego opened in 1982.  While the company began as a factory warehouse for Ertel/Nylen, Silent Timing, and US Tool it quickly grew and expanded to meet the full range of product needs of the local engine rebuilders, he said.  By 1984 Don Gross Warehouse had a full line of hard parts and shop supplies and was able to service the area fulfilling stock orders to warehouse distributors, production engine rebuilders, and jobbers as well as master kits built-to-order for the engine rebuilders. 

"It's not our place to sell to the installer trade," he said.  "That's the customer of our customer."

"When the nearby PERs began to slow down, we knew we had to change our strategy to stay alive in the changing market" Gross said. "We met that challenge by broadening our inventory to offer our customers more brand choices, adding purchased lines like Clevite and FelPro, and eventually expanding into high performance and industrial products."

Today the company operates out of a 26,000-square-foot warehouse in Los Angeles, and a 14,000-square-foot warehouse in San Diego, Gross said, and features lines such as Hastings rings, SBI valvetrain, ACL bearings, Engine Pro timing and camshafts, Melling oil pumps, Silvolite and Sealed Power pistons, and full-line import and late model domestic applications from Safety Auto Parts.

In 2003, Piston Engine Parts decided to expand its reach into the performance market by adding new performance lines to complete and complement the performance offerings they had been selling in Hastings, SBI, and ACL, Gross said.  He estimates that the company's performance business has grown gradually over the past six years to 10 percent of its volume and continues to increase.  Piston Engine Parts now carries a full range of performance internal engine parts, he said, as well as electronics, distributors, ignition, carburetors, manifolds, harmonic balancers, flexplates, clutches, and hardware kits. 

Among the performance lines the company features are ARP, Comp Cams, Dart, Engine Pro Race Rings, Total Seal, JE Pistons, Mahle Motorsports, Speed Pro, Keith Black, Engine Pro Performance Valvetrain, Ferrea, Scat, Professional Products, ProComp, Holley, and MSD.

 
The large inventory allows one-stop shopping, said General Manager Michelle Cusson.  "We can usually fill the order from our inventory," she said.  "It saves the customer from having to go all over to fill an order.  To that, we add knowledgeable people and convenient service in a timely fashion."

"Our focus is to be very service-oriented," Gross said.  "We assist our customers in looking up part numbers when necessary.  If there is something we don't have, we will go out and find it."

Recently the warehouse operations have offered its distribution services to Exedy/Daikin and Beck Arnley, manufacturers who do not specialize exclusively in hard parts.  "Diversifying like this helps our company to be more resilient to changes in the market," Gross said.

Even after years of consolidation, Gross said the future of the engine-rebuilding industry is not clear.  "We don't really know what's going to happen with the growth of things such as hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles."

"The market continues to shrink; we have customers who are really struggling, while some are staying really busy," said Oscar Scott the company's Sales Manager.  "The customers that have weathered this market, I've noticed are the ones that have allowed themselves to diversify like we have, taking not only stock replacement work but also performance and industrial work.  That has really given them more stability in an off market."

"By focusing on customer service and offering value, our company has consistently been able to grow or at least keep our sales level," Gross said. 

One major effort the company has focused on is to streamline its extensive engine-kit program, Gross said.  "We do what many of our competitors do not - we offer our customers engine kits that are completely flexible to include the brands they prefer.  We printed our first engine kit catalog in 1988," he said.  "Recently we have been working on getting the 2009 version out to our customers, which will be updated with performance engine kits and rotating assemblies, industrial kits, and late model applications." 

"One of the reasons that we have focused on putting kits together is that it speeds things up for those just-in-time orders and allows us to be efficient as a one-stop shop," Scott said.

Gross said he believes the professionalism and experience of the company's employees are a big part of what has allowed it to remain successful.  "We have employees who have been here for more than 20 years," he said.  "We have had other quality people join us from other industry companies, and we have people who have worked in machine shops and can help with technical issues."

"Company leaders are constantly seeking improvement and we are currently upgrading the company's computer system to have a web catalog and online ordering," Cusson said.  "The new system will also allow customers to look up invoices and will send automatic e-mails with tracking information on shipments."

"Our goal in everything we do is to help our customers grow and make them strong," Gross said.