Proving the Experts Wrong

Tony Bellucci epitomizes the concept of the self-made man. The owner and president of 72-year-old Uni-Select affiliate Lakeshore Auto Parts in Toronto, Bellucci broke into the industry as a delivery driver and “glorified broom pusher,” then progressed through virtually every other job description before buying the business in 1992.

Bellucci’s investment in what then was a 1,500-square-foot warehouse/store operation ran counter to prevailing industry trends. In a business where growth through consolidation was (and is) the accepted path, Lakeshore Auto Parts faced more than its share of competitive challenges.

Industry trends aside, Bellucci has continued to leverage the value of personalized, highly skilled services, respected brands, and proven business management technologies to keep his single storefront on the path to long-term growth.

“There are plenty of larger jobbers with seven or eight locations, but they don’t have what I have — a great staff that’s been with me for years and who really know their business. We have tremendous customer loyalty because shops understand we’ll provide them with exactly what they need,” Bellucci says.

Of Lakeshore’s 15-person staff, five work the counter. One counterperson joined the company in 1969, another in the mid-1980s, and a third has put in more than 12 years at the store. While staffing has remained consistent throughout Bellucci’s ownership, the business has expanded from its original location to a 13,500-sq.-ft. facility that carries more than twice the inventory.

Lakeshore today services more than 200 professional accounts — ranging from single-bay independent shops to auto dealerships — within a 10- to 15-kilometre radius. (The store’s six delivery trucks also service selected large accounts well outside the Toronto market.) Like many jobbers, Lakeshore has seen its product mix shift to the undercar categories, and Bellucci has carefully cultivated the store’s import coverage, which now comprises nearly 50 percent of total volume.

Leveraging Store Systems

While it’s no secret that a talented counter staff is a powerful competitive advantage, Bellucci’s business and that of other small distributor/jobbers face an ever-growing number of non-personnel challenges, not the least of which are the increased capital requirements in the parts industry.

“This is a business today where the guy with the deepest inventory wins,” he says. “We’re that guy for area professional accounts, which means I have to make smart decisions about what I carry.”

Bellucci doesn’t make those decisions in a vacuum — one secret to Lakeshore’s success has been a willingness to invest in proven business management technologies that enable better, faster, more strategic decision-making.

When he purchased Lakeshore in 1992, the business utilized the classic Triad Series 12 distribution platform. Bellucci soon upgraded to an Activant Eclipse store management system, which addressed his needs until 2002, when he invested in a full-fledged distribution management solution, Activant Prism. This investment — which has enabled Lakeshore to optimize inventory, forecasting, pricing, point-of-sale activities, and cash-flow — has played a key role in overcoming many of the same disadvantages facing other small distributor/jobbers.

“As a small business, we’re constantly on the run to service our customers,” Bellucci explains. “I rely on my store system to help make the right decisions as quickly as I can. (Technology) is a significant investment, but it enables so many of the other things that make you successful.”

One of these “enabling” technologies is Lakeshore’s barcode inventory module, which integrates with the Prism system. Prior to this investment, Bellucci’s staff would spend two to three days checking, posting, and stocking supplier shipments. “Now when we get six or seven skids of product, either myself or one of my staff members comes in at seven in the morning and within 20 minutes has everything scanned and in the computer,” he says. “It used to be a three-person job and now any person can do it alone in less than a half-hour.”

As important as the improved efficiency of barcode scanning, however, has been the increased accuracy of Lakeshore’s inventory. “My records are as close to dead-on accurate as possible,” he says. “We can immediately tell the customer with confidence that we have the part and how quickly we can get it to him.”

Still, barcode scanning technologies aren’t inexpensive, and many small distributors fail to understand their immediate bottom-line impact, according to some technology providers. “I’m sure there are a lot of small distributors like me who hate the thought of writing that cheque,” Bellucci says, “but our system paid for itself within the first year. It was a great decision.”

Those decisions continue: Bellucci recently added a secure, high-speed Internet parts trading network solution and upgraded his eCatalogue technology with an innovative graphical module. This new eCat technology, which emulates the comprehensive “cover-to-cover” nature of a printed master catalogue, features thousands of product images as well as TSBs, installation instructions, and other valuable information. He believes both investments will help make the Toronto market’s most knowledgeable and efficient counter staff even better.

“We’re looking for ways to be faster and better in everything we do,” he said.

“When you’re a small guy with a reputation for great quality and service, you have to do everything you can to protect and increase those advantages.”