After-market parts company moves distribution to Sparks

Article from the Northern Nevada Business Weekly: After-market parts company moves distribution to Sparks

NNBW Staff, 1/28/2008

“Crown Automotive Sales Company, Inc. will open a distribution center next month in a 19,600-square-foot portion of a 435,000-square-foot building at 750 Greg St. in Sparks. Crown Automotive distributes replacement parts for Jeeps and SUVs. The company chose to close its Salt Lake City center, says Mark Consiglio, national sales manager, because the Sparks location will allow it to offer one-day service to its West Coast customers. It will hire six to eight employees locally, as none will relocate from Utah. Despite the lagging economy, Consiglio says, Jeep sales have seen an uptick due to the introduction of the four-door JK model, which can double as the family vehicle for the off-road buyers market. Crown Automotive began in Boston in 1963 and now operates three warehouses nationwide. Its local retail dealer is Drive Line and Gear Service on Glendale Avenue in Sparks. NAI Alliance represented the building owner, NB Real Estate Capital of Portland, Ore., in the lease transaction and Miller Industrial Properties, LLC, represented Crown Automotive.”

The significance of this article only points stronger to the fact that as this area grows, matures, gets more sophisticated in logistical technology, that our roots sustain us in the lean times. This company came to us a few years ago seeking information on the Reno-Sparks market as a potential western DC location. Miller Industria Propertiies responded with the required info. and followed up as the years went on with no action on their part. Then, only a few weeks ago, they reconnected and in a very short time, visited, looked at the warehousing options, make an offer, signed a lease and are now opening shop in Sparks, Nevada. THis was an unremarkable transaction until you understand that Crown is moving an existing distribution operation from Salt Lake City. 500 miles, 7 hours away. An operation that has been there for over 20 years!

Moving a warehousing operation with 15,000 SKU’s is no small task, with the business disruption, personnel disruptions, the logistical revisions to the shipping operation, both inbound and outbound. The dieect and indirect costs really add up. In a soft economy, these costs hurt even more. But this firm saw that the move would be worthwhile based on Reno’s location as compared to Salt Lake City. We’ve always known about Reno’s excellent trucking access to the 11 western states and we hear of it and talk about it all the time. But when a Boston based firm sees fit to move a 20 year operation 500 miles down the road to take advantage of our strategic location advantage; it just reinforces what we already know. Reno’s location is a huge plus to firms that ship their goods in or out of this area. And that advantage should serve us well into the forseeable future.