St. Louis--Ask Kurt Siems, president of Concord CARQUEST Auto Parts, to name the key ingredients of a successful retail and wholesale parts operation, and without hesitation he will cite two things. "It's inventory and people," he said. "We've more than doubled the inventory of this store since we acquired it, and we've hired some good people."
Siems and his family--wife, Julia; sister, Sharon Sedlack; and brother-in-law, Tim Sedlack--acquired the 3,200-square-foot store in March 2006, adding it to Fillmore Auto Parts, their existing CARQUEST facility in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood of the Gateway City. Today, they employ more than two dozen people, and their stores serve south St. Louis and south St. Louis County, Kurt Siems said.
Siems said his wife is the company's treasurer; his sister, its secretary; and his brother-in-law, the vice president.
"We've been more than satisfied with the business since we acquired it," Siems said of Concord Auto Parts. "Actually, sales have more than doubled. We're definitely going in the right direction faster than I thought."
When they acquired the store, it basically needed two things, Siems said. "It needed inventory, and it needed somebody out on the street to start going after business."
Siems said inventory is important for an auto parts store because customers want their parts "yesterday." He said people are important because they are the face of a company for its customers, whether on the street, in a delivery truck, or behind the counter.
"Those two things are among the main contributing factors to successful auto parts," he said. "That's what I feel. It's parts and people. I'm proud to be a CARQUEST operation because I think they're the best outfit. But if I were with someone else, it would still be parts and people. That's what makes you successful."
A third-generation owner, Siems said his grandfather, Arthur Siems, began the business as an auto/electric (generators) service and repair facility in 1926. His grandfather selected the name "Fillmore" because the business was located originally at 414 Fillmore Street in south St. Louis, not far from the Mississippi River. Later, the family expanded the facility to include a storefront at 6101 Michigan Ave. While the majority of the business' work eventually centered on small-engine repair, the family also expanded gradually into auto parts, he said.
Siems said his father, Robert, succeeded his grandfather in the business. In 1990, Siems and his sister, and their spouses, succeeded Robert Siems. It was at this point that the family opened the parts store on Hampton Avenue and joined CARQUEST.
"We realized we needed to do something else," Siems said.
For the first few years after expanding to Hampton Avenue, Siems said the family kept the Michigan Ave. location open. Only later did he consolidate the business at the Hampton store.
"I was a third-generation owner, and I was hoping I wasn't making a mistake," Siems said of the decision to open the Hampton store.
Today, Siems said business at both the Hampton and Concord locations is about 90 percent wholesale. "We run nine delivery vehicles out of our Fillmore store and six from here. Here at Concord we have more 'national' accounts, as we call them--automobile dealers, Firestone, Dobbs, etc. At Fillmore, more of our customers are independent shops."
Regardless of the kind of customer, the demand is the same, Siems said. "It's service. They want parts yesterday. And that's why it comes down to having parts. We don't even go downtown (to the CARQUEST warehouse), and Concord is only 20 minutes from downtown. Our customers can't wait. We have to have the part here."
Siems said he keeps a sharp eye on his daily reports. "If we don't have it," he said of a parts request, "I want to see if we should have had it."
His employees are also sources of valuable information, Siems added. "They have a lot of input on putting new stuff in." Siems said he has a long list of veteran employees. "I have good, honest people working for me, and we have fun," he said. "That's another thing I believe is important. We goof around. We act stupid. But when it comes to selling parts, we buckle down. But we enjoy our work."
In recruiting new employees, Siems said he looks for two things--honesty and personality. "If you have honesty, you can be taught the business," he said.
Siems said the two traits are important for a basic reason: "People buy from people."
While he recognizes there is a learning curve when a company expands to a second location, Siems said the acquisition of Concord Auto Parts and its integration into the family business has been a relatively trouble-free experience.
"Because I had two stores before, I learned a lot," he said. "And there is wisdom in age. I made a lot of mistakes then. I make mistakes every day. But I learn from them."
Because no business owner can be "two places at one time," Siems said, "having good people" is an essential requirement for a multiple-location operation.
"I keep saying good people, but I believe that's what it really comes down to," he said. "I have good people at both stores, and I can walk away from either one and know that it's being run correctly."
Siems said that while no additional expansion plans are on the table, if another location became available in a few years, he would "definitely entertain the thought."
"My sister would kill me if I said yes, but I could never say no," he said.
Siems said the reason for acquiring Concord Auto Parts and for being open to another acquisition is that the business environment requires that a company grow.
"The smaller stores are going to be gone," he said. "If you're not increasing your inventory every year--and by increasing it, I'm not saying just a thousand or two, I'm saying $10,000 or $20,000 per store at least--you're not going to be around. You're going to have to grow. That's one of the reasons I bought this store. Not because I wanted to, but because I knew I had to grow just to be around."
Siems said that at times, trying to keep up with the changes in the industry--and with the explosion of parts required by new cars--is formidable. "Sometimes it seems like we're running up an escalator backwards," he said.
Still, he said, "that's fine. I always say, 'If we do the best we can, we'll be there, and we'll be one of the best ones.'"
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