Somewhat off-topic - Wheel Pros Has Filed for Bankruptcy

[Periwinkle]

Sorry if this is too off-topic, I can delete if there is no interest. Wheel Pros (rebranded as Hoonigan) has files for bankruptcy protection. They own American Racing among other brands:

https://www.wheelpros.com/brands/

Here is an article on it for any interested:

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2024/09/09/clearlake-backed-wheel-maker-files-for-bankruptcy-protection/

To be honest I'm not sure what kind of impact this will have (if any) but I found it interesting as someone who was recently looking for new wheels prior to deciding on used.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Hoonigan was a Ken Block trademark.

They must have sold the rights after he killed himself snowmobiling in Utah.

I wonder what capital investment or asset management group is going to snap it up and exsanguinate the corpse?

[thelastkeg]

Hoonigan was a Ken Block trademark.

They must have sold the rights after he killed himself snowmobiling in Utah.

I wonder what capital investment or asset management group is going to snap it up and exsanguinate the corpse?

Man that's a 5 dollar word. I had to google "exsanguinate." Kudos if you're actually able to retain words like that. I've tried, but just can't seem to recall them.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Man that's a 5 dollar word. I had to google "exsanguinate." Kudos if you're actually able to retain words like that. I've tried, but just can't seem to recall them.

Edit: My sister worked in the morgue for years. I learned by osmosis!

Well, these people are vampires, sucking the last vestiges of life out of the companies they take over.

[viven44]

Edit: My sister worked in the morgue for years. I learned by osmosis!

Well, these people are vampires, sucking the last vestiges of life out of the companies they take over.

Like Eddie Lampert did with Sears, Roebuck and Co ?

I still fume over what has been lost, despite not having grown up here. Going from selling entire homes in a mail order catalog to wasting away into obscurity...

[ArdWrknTrk]

Like Eddie Lampert did with Sears, Roebuck and Co ?

I still fume over what has been lost, despite not having grown up here. Going from selling entire homes in a mail order catalog to wasting away into obscurity...

Gary worked for Sears when K-Mart bought them out.

'Crazy Eddie' lived here in Greenwich, and was actually kidnapped and held for ransom!

[Gary Lewis]

Like Eddie Lampert did with Sears, Roebuck and Co ?

I still fume over what has been lost, despite not having grown up here. Going from selling entire homes in a mail order catalog to wasting away into obscurity...

I can tell you the day that he bought Sears - late on Nov 14h. We, Computer Sciences Corp, had won the outsourcing contract with Sears in Feb. (I was standing under the Eiffel Tower on Feb 14th when I got the call that we'd won.)

Janey and I bought a house in Elgin and moved in on Nov 14th. On the 15th, Janey's birthday, I left home at ~6:00 AM and was listening to financial news on the radio when it was announced. I got to work and the Sears staff was in shock. They knew of Lampert as his notoriety preceded him. And they were all absolutely sure he would cancel the outsourcing contract.

I didn't think so because I knew how many zeros were in the cancelation clause as I worked on the contract. But somehow he got it done, and although I know he had to have paid a bunch, I could never find out how much.

The Institutional Investor site says "Eddie Lampert Shattered Sears, Sullied His Reputation...".

[85lebaront2]

Gary worked for Sears when K-Mart bought them out.

'Crazy Eddie' lived here in Greenwich, and was actually kidnapped and held for ransom!

What it boils down to, is very simple. A businees is making good money has decent management and has a good customer base and maybe even has brand recognition. In the case of Sears (who i worked for in 1966) Kenmore, Craftsman, Allstate to name a few. Almost all of which had products produced by other companies for Sears. Lawn and garden equipment, Murray, MTD and AYP. Murray was (and is) extremely cheaply made, MTD will make a push, riding or yard tractor pretty much however you want it, AYP (American Yard Products) is now Husqvarna. They have now gone way downhill, and are gone.

My son was working for Advance Auto in 1995-96 when they were bought by a group of "New York Investors" basically Doctors and Lawyers who had little if any experience in the retail world, and definitely not in auto parts. They and their investment advisors, looked at staffing vs sales and decided they only needed 2 people on the floor or maybe 3. A shop would call in a parts order to the commercial sales (if they had one) and come pick it up or have it delivered. In the area he worked, around 4:30 - 6:00 weekdays they would have a run where the store would be full of customers, with onlt 2 or 3 employees, couldn't go out and check a battery or charging system, people needing to have parts looked up would get frustrated and go across the street to AutoZone or just go home and try to order it.

[ArdWrknTrk]

What it boils down to, is very simple. A businees is making good money has decent management and has a good customer base and maybe even has brand recognition. In the case of Sears (who i worked for in 1966) Kenmore, Craftsman, Allstate to name a few. Almost all of which had products produced by other companies for Sears. Lawn and garden equipment, Murray, MTD and AYP. Murray was (and is) extremely cheaply made, MTD will make a push, riding or yard tractor pretty much however you want it, AYP (American Yard Products) is now Husqvarna. They have now gone way downhill, and are gone.

My son was working for Advance Auto in 1995-96 when they were bought by a group of "New York Investors" basically Doctors and Lawyers who had little if any experience in the retail world, and definitely not in auto parts. They and their investment advisors, looked at staffing vs sales and decided they only needed 2 people on the floor or maybe 3. A shop would call in a parts order to the commercial sales (if they had one) and come pick it up or have it delivered. In the area he worked, around 4:30 - 6:00 weekdays they would have a run where the store would be full of customers, with onlt 2 or 3 employees, couldn't go out and check a battery or charging system, people needing to have parts looked up would get frustrated and go across the street to AutoZone or just go home and try to order it.

And now Advance has Craftsman, Die Hard and for whatever insane reason has branded all their fluids 'Fram'

[salans7]

My son was working for Advance Auto in 1995-96 when they were bought by a group of "New York Investors" basically Doctors and Lawyers who had little if any experience in the retail world, and definitely not in auto parts. They and their investment advisors, looked at staffing vs sales and decided they only needed 2 people on the floor or maybe 3. A shop would call in a parts order to the commercial sales (if they had one) and come pick it up or have it delivered. In the area he worked, around 4:30 - 6:00 weekdays they would have a run where the store would be full of customers, with onlt 2 or 3 employees, couldn't go out and check a battery or charging system, people needing to have parts looked up would get frustrated and go across the street to AutoZone or just go home and try to order it.

Things weren't any better in 2013-2014. I worked for an Advance Auto store that was originally the only auto parts store in the area for years. Autozone came right before I started and immediately took half the sales. Then Walmart came and took the oil change sales, some battery sales, and that of the piddly things on the sales floor. Despite this, Advance never dropped the sales goals for my store. About 6 months after I started, they implemented a new sales goal policy where you were written up if you did not meet your sales goals for the period. I worked the late shift (2-9pm), so of course I never made my sales goals since they were astronomical. Once you hit 4 writeups, they terminated you. I made it to three write ups, and then put in my notice so that my last day was the day prior to when they would have likely terminated me. Only one person from my store ended up not getting termed, mainly because he only worked 10 hours a week and his position wasn't included in the sales goals requirements.

I won't feel sad when Advance goes belly up. They did it to themselves.