THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 29, 1996 TAG: 9604270244
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Ted Evanoff
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Ever been stuck in traffic on Mercury Boulevard in Hampton? Or confronted the awful back up on Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach? Then this will come as no surprise.
Tidewater has surpassed the million mark.
More than 1 million cars and trucks are registered in Hampton Roads, a traffic jam that has spawned one of the most competitive retail businesses in Tidewater: Auto parts.
``If you can find a four-corner intersection without an auto parts dealer on it, I'd like to know where it is,'' said William F. O'Connor, head of Twin B Auto Parts Inc. of Norfolk.
Tidewater has been car crazy a long time. But it hasn't always been this car crazy. Some families now have more cars than kids.
Twenty years ago, 604,000 vehicles were registered in Hampton Roads. Sometime in the last couple of years, 1 million was reached.
That means the vehicle population increased 40 percent in Hampton Roads while the human population increased only 20 percent. There's little wonder why it happened.
Single adults, many of them in the military, fill Hampton Roads. And the rise of two-income households in the '80s means both workers need cars.
There are now two vehicles registered in Tidewater for every three residents, a trend that hasn't escaped retailers. Chain stores have proliferated.
Twin B alone has 192 employees and 27 stores selling everything from car polish to rack and pinion systems. It's multi-store competitors include Advance, Advantage, Apple, Auto Zone, Bi-Lo, Carquest, Dixie Diggs, Genuine, Import, NAPA, Pep Boys, Pro, Tony's and Western Auto.
And that's not including the car dealer's parts shops, or the droves of one-store independents.
``This has got to rank as one of the most competitive markets in the country,'' said Mark Kanneg, district manager for the Pep Boys, a nationwide chain based in Philadelphia.
``The sheer amount of auto parts dealers, auto repair shops, speciality shops - it is one of the most heavily populated areas in the country,'' Kanneg said.
Competition was softer a few years back. O'Connor remembered fewer chain stores.
Then business turned sharp. Established chain stores expanded. Pep Boys had one store, then five. Advance had one, then 12.
And new chain stores stepped in, such as the recent entry of Auto Zone, a Memphis retailer bankrolled by the New York investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
Under the pressure, Twin B retreated, closing the last of its four Peninsula stores in March.
``We just left the Peninsula,'' O'Connor said. ``I think we had been perceived as a Norfolk company and we weren't accepted.
``The national chains came and people recognized the names and accepted them. But we struggled over there.
``We poured money into the business. The $64,000 question is why it didn't work out,'' O'Connor said. ``I think a little bit of it was that Advance opened over there the year before.''
Now, Twin B has focused on its regular turf. It recently opened store No. 27 in Accomac (its third Eastern Shore shop) and as the southside suburbs spread west is considering locations around Suffolk.
While the heavy competition has pushed down prices, Twin B has taken another approach. It emphasizes employee training and customer service.
``We've chosen not to go after price, price, price,'' O'Connor said. ``One of our biggest pluses is the cost of labor in the garages.''
A garage might charge $40 for a water pump and $150 for the mechanic's time. Many motorists would rather save the $150 and fix the car themselves.
``People are keeping their cars longer these says,'' O'Connor said. ``The hard-part business (as opposed to brushes and polish) is picking up.''
Manufacturers have helped, too. In the age of electronic components, they finally figured out how to make even complicated replacement parts like rack and pinion steering systems more accessible to weekend mechanics. That means Twin B tries to maintain a smart staff.
``We're after a preferred customer,'' O'Connor said. ``We've issued to everybody who would accept one a customer card.
``We want to track customer purchases and know what our customers want when they come into the store. We'd like to have the upscale customer who wants value.'' by CNB