BESTBUY DISTRIBUTORS - www.bestbuydistributors.ca - The Canadian Business Journal
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BESTBUY DISTRIBUTORS
www.bestbuydistributors.ca
CBJ
BESTBUY DISTR The Power of Numbers
AUTOMOTIVE RIBUTORS
4 AUTOMOTIVE » Bestbuy Distributors Bestbuy Distributors is a member- “THERE’S POWER IN numbers,” explains owned auto parts distribution President Jeff VandeSande. “We’re stronger company that services the together than individually. We’re able to pull the automotive aftermarket. Their main purchases together from our various different warehouses are in Mississauga, shareholders and are able to negotiate the best Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta. possible program for them and provide the best Bestbuy Distributors’ unique business branded product. It’s not just about price. It’s also model, in which profits to go back about supply, delivery, the brands that the con- to the shareholder members, is sumer is looking for and the latest applications different from their public company out there. Because we have this buying power competitors and allows for greater and these warehouses to store the inventory, we buying power than if their individual are able to negotiate some pretty good deals for members were to go it alone. our members.”
SEPTEMBER 2015 « The Canadian Business Journal
56 AUTOMOTIVE » Bestbuy Distributors
The Canadian Business Journal featured of about a hundred new part numbers a week.
Bestbuy Distributors in December 2012, but We are not able to remove the same amount of
much has changed with the company since then. obsolete parts, so you end up getting substan-
tially growing inventories, which is an issue that
plagues our industry,” remarks VandeSande.
Expansion and Growth To address this issue, Bestbuy Distributors
The automotive industry experiences a signifi- ensures that they always have the right parts on
cant amount of parts proliferation. the shelf for when shareholders need them.
“Essentially that means that every year there “Our building in Mississauga had over 70,000
are more cars, which need different parts. Car square feet of warehouse space. About two
parts are like bunny rabbits: they just keep pro- years ago we started a project to expand this
liferating. We add into our inventory an average facility, which just completed this year. We addedPARTS FOR
SEPTEMBER 2015 « The Canadian Business Journal
7
EVERY
CAR
ALTERNATORS
BRAKING
STARTERS FUEL PUMPS
FILTERS SPARK PLUGS
OXYGEN SENSORS
WIPER BLADES
DIESEL
SENSORS
INJECTORS
IGNITION PARTS
BATTERIES
Leading Global OE Supplier for Domestic, Asian and European Vehicles
Learn more at www.PartsForEveryCar.com
© 2014 Robert Bosch LLC, USA. All rights reserved.8 AUTOMOTIVE » Bestbuy Distributors
another 35,000 square feet. We also expanded some of the stuff that was being sold in the field
our freestanding catwalk system by another that we didn’t have space for before. Now we’re
25,000 square feet,” VandeSande says. able to service both our members as well as our
Bestbuy Distributors is also constantly receiv- outside warehouse account customers much bet-
ing new line opportunities. Often, when vendors ter because of the expansion we’ve undertaken,”
carry a line of auto parts that starts selling more VandeSande tells us.
and more in the field, the demand starts to grow In addition to expanding their warehouse
and after a certain point the products need to be facility, Bestbuy has also expanded the range of
stocked in inventory in the Distribution Centres. programs that they offer to their shareholders,
“We were getting to a point about two years which include (but are not limited to) market-
ago where there were several line opportunities, ing programs, training programs, and sales tools,
but we frankly just didn’t have the space! A good including a commodity catalogue for non-applica-
example is with exhaust products. This year, we’ve tion parts, which the company launched last year.
added exhaust products into the distribution “How auto parts distribution works in the
centre. We’ve also added several other products, aftermarket is that there’s massive online cata-
including coated rotors, and mid-grade friction; logues that are attached to the managementSEPTEMBER 2015 « The Canadian Business Journal
9
UCI-FRAM AutoBrands is among North America’s largest and most diversified
companies servicing the vehicle replacement parts and car care market.
Its industry leading businesses include, among others:
Brands that drive the automotive aftermarket.
Brands with an unparalleled heritage of quality,innovation and trust.
FRAM Group Canada Inc., 2430 Meadowpine Blvd.,Unit 107 Mississauga ON L5N 6S2
GREEN IS MORE THAN OUR COLOR, IT’S OUR STANDARD
Enjoying a reputation for top-quality products, business innovations and consistently reliable
service, Interstate Batteries is the No. 1 replacement brand battery in North America.
Four lines of business make up our enterprise,
employing more than 1,400 team members
BIGGERTHAN
nationwide: BATTERIES
Interstate Batteries and Our Distributor Network
Interstate All Battery Center
PowerCare and Service Solutions, Inc.
Interstate Batteries Recycling, Inc.
Visit us on our website: www.interstatebatteries.com10 AUTOMOTIVE » Bestbuy Distributors systems in the distributors’ businesses. You do a Dedication to the lookup if you’ve got a specific vehicle, say a 2010 Community Ford Taurus that you needed an oil filter for. You’d Bestbuy Distributors recognizes that success go onto the catalogue and find the part number, depends on both attracting new members and brand and price. It catalogues and inventories ensuring continued satisfaction of their exist- all of the products in the aftermarket. It doesn’t ing membership. To offer something more for catalogue all of the commodity products, like their members, Bestbuy hosts annual meetings tools, shop towels, gloves and brooms. All those and events, the major ones being their Buy & Sell commodity products are non-application parts. event in September, and their Annual General We need to be able to tell our customers and Meeting in February. shareholders we’ve got it. So, we came up with a The Buy & Sell event consists of one-on-one commodity catalogue that shows them all of that. meetings between wholesalers and suppliers, It’s been a massively successful sales and market- and is held at a different location every year. ing tool in the field. Last year was the first year we “It’s kind of like speed dating,” VandeSande introduced it, and we’re working on next year’s analogizes. “We select our top 45 vendors, and already,” explains VandeSande. we get them hotel rooms. They take the beds
SEPTEMBER 2015 « The Canadian Business Journal
11
Photo: davincy boy™12 AUTOMOTIVE » Bestbuy Distributors
SEPTEMBER 2015 « The Canadian Business Journal
13
out and put a table in all the rooms on a given
floor of the hotel. Every shareholder distributor THE RIGHT SOLUTION
for premium chassis parts
gets 20 minutes. They go into every meet- and control arms
ing room and discuss the opportunities with
WORLD PREMIERE
that vendor. It could be a new product line, AT AAPEX 2015!
See the new definition
an ongoing maintenance issue or updates on of premium
Visit MAS in booth #6316
new programs or applications. From a vendor’s
we offer
perspective, we’ve got over 150 stores across
Canada, and for them to call on all of their loca-
better quality
tions is very expensive. If you can get the bulk of
better coverage
those distributors together and have a chance
to meet with them all, it’s a massive cost savings better cataloging
and a benefit to both the vendor as well as to our
Speak today with a MAS Industries expert
shareholder.” for more information about our products.
Buy & Sell is a two-day event. On the sec- Call 1-800-472-0815
or visit mas-industries.com
ond day, Bestbuy organizes a golf tournament
or a local tour of wherever the event is held. The
proceeds raised during that activity go to the
Toronto SickKids Hospital, an organization to
which Bestbuy has donated over $650,000.
The February AGM, which is always held
near Pearson International Airport, in Toronto,
Impressive.
provides an opportunity for members and man-
agement to sit down together to review the
previous fiscal year’s financials, the sales and
marketing initiatives, product line changes and
operational upgrades. Bestbuy also invites key-
note speakers to discuss the economy and
overall market. During an evening gala din- Blue Streak is proud to be a part
of your driving force in the marketplace.
ner, a vendor of the year or individual who has
given Bestbuy exceptional service is recognized
with the Horace J. Pratt award, and long-time
members are also awarded for their service. The
dinner ends with a presentation and donation14 AUTOMOTIVE » Bestbuy Distributors
to Toronto SickKids Hospital. The next day,
Bestbuy hosts a trade show in the Toronto
Distribution Centre, which gives shareholders
an opportunity to see the operational side and
basically what is stored in the warehouse.
The “Be Car Care Aware”
Campaign
Bestbuy Distributors appreciates the importance
of car care for the end-users, and are proud
supporters of the nationally branded “Be Car
Care Aware” campaign, which is driven by the
Automotive Industries Association (AIA). The AIA
is an association that unites all the aftermarket
distributors, warehouses, as well as the vendors.SEPTEMBER 2015 « The Canadian Business Journal
15
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ad_Canadian_Busines_Journey.indd 1 2015-08-25 16:19
VandeSande likens the necessity of car to demonstrate their service commitment to the
repairs to trips to the dentist: community.
“When you go to the dentist, the best way “The business that we’re in is very personal.
to avoid cavities is preventive maintenance: People buy from people. It’s not just about price
brush and floss everyday and get cleanings on or brand. People deal with the distributor that
a regular basis. Taking care of a vehicle is not they like to deal with, who services them as best
that different in the sense that the better you as they can. We’re very focused because each
care for it, the longer it will last. Repairing a of our distributors is independent. There’s no
vehicle has always been a grudge purchase. But obligation for them to buy from Bestbuy, and
although it may cost more in the short term, we have to earn every penny of business we get
you’re not undertaking large, costly repairs or from them. We’re very customer-service oriented
buying a new car every couple of years, and it when it comes to dealing with the aftermarket,”
will save you in the long term” he says. says VandeSande. CBJ
Whether it’s with their member owners,
vendors, the organizations they support or the www.bestbuydistributors.ca
end consumers, Bestbuy Distributors continuesGEORGE MEDIA
NETWORK
AS SEEN IN THE SEPTEMBER 2015 ISSUE OF THE CANADIAN BUSINESS JOURNAL
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