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Ace Pick-A-Part All In U-Pull-It


Part is the largest self-service used auto and truck part facility in Jacksonville (population 892,000), and is family-owned and operated since 1986. Their super yard sits on over 35+ acres with 3,000 cars, trucks, SUVs and vans available for parts pulling. The operation employs about 30 employees. Gary Lindros Jr. is Ace’s general manager and is also the current president of the Florida Auto Dismantlers and Recyclers Association (FADRA), an ARA affiliate chapter. “In the 1980s, our family owned several transmission shops started by my father, Gary Sr., and we wanted to get into auto parts,” says Gary Lindros Jr. “Back then, full-service was very popular, but we were concerned about labor and facility overhead. Our original plan was to open our business in California. In 1986, we toured a self-service yard there, a rare concept, and loved it. It was lower maintenance in facilities, warehousing, and labor. Rethinking the location, my father started Ace Pick-A-Part in Jacksonville, FL, and I came on board in 1997.” In 2017, to manage growth and increase top-level management, his brother Jonathan joined Ace after a career in pharmaceuticals. The difference in full-service and self-


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service is evident, but worth noting. “I see full-service as the steak house, and self-service as the burger joint,” laughs Lindros. “Both sell meat, but to different markets. Full-service is typically a business-to-business transaction, whereas self-service is business to consumer; retail in its purest form. People who shop in u-pull-it yards do it for themselves, their family or friends. Therefore, we have to be conveniently open seven days a week,


44 // March-April 2019


hile many full-service operators are looking at the self-service model, some recyclers skipped right to the u-pull-it model from the start. Ace Pick-A-


as many hours as possible, to accommodate their schedules. We open early morning and go to the late afternoon.” The Ace team leaves no stone unturned to get the attention of their customers. “To market Ace Pick-A-Part, we do everything we can. Billboards, TV and radio (with limited success), and local magazine advertising. We attend various events like car shows to hand out coupons. We use Craigslist, Google Adwords, Yahoo and Bing ad placements, and more.” The company also has an active Facebook page with 28,721 likes, full of fun and friendly posts. To get inventory, they search high and low. With their vehicles turning over every 40 days, they need a lot of cars to fill their vast acreage. “The auctions have gotten tighter in the last month or two,” says Lindros. “As salvage prices go up, we buy wherever we can – private individuals, charities that solicit cars donations, auctions, tow companies … we hunt vehicles down. We have fixed pricing on part types, which is a clear difference from full-service to self-service. All engines are priced the same, no matter what. When car costs go up, we modify prices as needed to keep profit levels even.” To manage the yard, Ace utilizes Pinnacle Yard Management and their own point of sale system. “We were a founding member of URG, and the first yard in Florida to sign up for Pinnacle 12 years ago,” Gary says proudly. For metal processing, Ace has their own crusher, and sends materials off to shredders or metal dealers directly, but is definitely feeling the effects of the recent 6-month dive in the metals market. This is a concern for the future for Gary and Ace. Yet, with all the success, Gary sees vast change coming for the self-service niche. “You can see it already happening. We see more people buying computer modules to swap them out. People shaving a cylinder head isn’t happening as much anymore. But they can change out a crankshaft, engine computer, headlights and body parts, especially plastic parts. The problem is we need more information in our YMS in order to properly identify and charge for certain parts.” “I think the associations, both state and national, are doing


the best they can to get the industry demands met. I find it frustrating that OEMs don’t want to budge at all. They have all the information we need; they just don’t want to give it up. And then, they diminish the value of their own OEM parts by passing off what they created as substandard! It’s crazy.” “Also, autonomous cars and the trend toward people not


owning cars is something we are watching closely. Cars will still break down or crash, but I am concerned about the ability to sell parts. If personal car ownership is down, who will buy the parts to fix cars? We could become pure scrap dealers. No one could own a car anymore. There are so many possibilities,” says Lindros, “it will be interesting times. “What I enjoy most about this industry is helping a customer get a car back on the road to go to work, and provide for their family,” Gary notes. “I think whatever it is, full-service or self- service, the current auto industry is strong, and automotive recyclers have years to go in the current landscape. But, with that said, we must keep ahead of the curve, and plan for changes. Our industry is depending on it!”


Automotive Recycling


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