Love of classic Chevys builds booming parts business

Ron Wade began selling car parts using storage space under his bed in a rented room 23 years ago. That operation grew into Vancouver’s Chevs of the 40’s, which today has an inventory of 1 million parts and customers from as far away as China.

“From the bedroom floor up,” is how Wade describes the growth.

Chevs of the 40’s boasts of being the world’s most complete supplier of 1937-1954 Chevrolet car and truck parts. In stock are all the parts for building a classic Chevy from scratch.

Wade fell in love with a 1941 Chevrolet Cabriolet when he was 14 and he never surrendered his passion for the model brand. His business partner and general manager, Rob Logsdon, shares that same passion for the mid-century classics. The business operates out of a 20,000 square foot ware­house with a showroom that this fall featured a stunning finished 1941 Chevrolet.

Chevs of the 40’s doesn’t sell completed cars or trucks. The staff builds cars, but that’s to understand the parts that go into them.

“The research and development that we do here is to ensure we’re selling quality products,” Logsdon said.

Finished cars are displayed at auto shows – Chevs of the 40’s typically attends 80 shows a year – to illustrate what can be built through the company’s massive catalog of parts.

The business has three catalogs, covering 1937-1954 cars, 1937-1954 trucks and street rods. Chevs is working on a new catalog that will feature Ford parts.

The first Chevs of the 40s catalog was 13 pages. Each catalog today has around 250 pages. The street rod catalog highlights the newest division of the company, Street Rod Headquarters.

“It’s just a way for us to go after street rod parts and offer Ford and other brands,” Logsdon said.

The growth in sales has allowed for the continuing expansion of the business. Gross sales have powered ahead 15 percent each of the past six years. Logsdon declined to say what the sales total was.

Advertising boost

Advertising is a major catalyst for sales growth, he said. Chevs has an annual advertising budget of $500,000 and advertises in 38 magazines and trade publications. The company is a sponsor at nearly 3,000 car shows most years and attached to around 2,000 this year.

The Internet has helped drive international sales. Orders have come from Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, China and Japan. Staff can usually trace a boost in international orders to a message board or chat room in a particular country that mentions the business.

Fifteen percent of sales are from overseas customers. Fifteen percent of total sales also come from online orders.

Average orders are $145, but there are people who will spend $15,000 in one shot. Chevs has recently started selling a cab for a 1947-1953 Chevrolet that goes for $10,000, with freight.

Logsdon said he believed Chevs was the first to stock and sell the item. They advertised it heavily and have sold seven. “We try to be the frontrunners in bringing products to the market,” he said.

Chevs also worked to be at the forefront in using an advanced computer system that tracks inventory, shipping, receiving and customer orders, basically automating the entire operation. Wade said he tried twice, at a cost of $50,000 each time, to get software in place that could handle the challenge, but wasn’t successful either time.

A third try in 1999 worked and the thoroughness of the setup has allowed the business to expand without increasing payroll. Chevs has 16 employees, the same as 10 years ago.

Each piece of inventory from the 600 vendors Chevs deals with is given a bar code coming in the door and scanned going out. As soon as it’s scanned into the system, it also becomes available online through the Web site, www.chevsofthe40s.com.

A customer’s purchase history is also stored, so there is little chance of purchasing the same part twice.

Logsdon said many customers predate all the technology. Recently a customer came in with a receipt from 1982 for bed wood that was on back order. The man wasn’t sure if he had ever picked up the part he paid for 25 years earlier, but it was given to him anyway.

Logsdon said customer service is essential. It’s relatively easy to provide that ingredient at Chevs, considering management and staff are enthusiasts, much like the customers they serve. “If you make your hobby your job, you’ll never go to work, and that’s true here,” Logsdon said.

There have been offers to buy the business over the years, but there has been no interest to sell. It has nothing to do with the financial size of the offers, either.

“Not for sale,” Logsdon said. “We’re still having fun growing it,” Wade added.