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RIP Parts-Express (as we knew it).

Mr. Widget said:
That is horrible news.
Private equity firms are gobbling up companies across America like some form of unstoppable plague fed by personal greed.
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Private equity firms are gobbling up private housing AND small businesses across America on a scale beyond measure...
 
It appears the the government was not involved in the sale of parts express nor was any regulation involked. Anxiety over consolidation, lack of competition, loss of jobs to counties with child labor and lack of health and safety are legitimate concerns but that too has not been seen in this case. Time to wait and see what happens to the new PE, if much changes at all and in what direction.
 
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Let's keep it to FACTS about Parts Express.
 
I wish the original owner all the best. They had a good idea, and if the model worked, others will pick up the good ideas and discard the practices that didn't. Any storefront has a cost that can make or break the business. After 39 years, it's time for a change if they started in their mid-20s. I'm sure the owner (s) have taped up enough boxes that they never want to see another roll of packing tape again. :cool: If they did close the storefront front there is always a possibility of prices going down.

Employees, liability insurance, any type of health and welfare package, Social Security, Workman's Comp, shipping cost, rent or taxes on the property (if you own it), utilities, maintenance cost, advertisement, Internet storefront, web page management, blog maintenance, banking and CC cost, the list goes on, it's expensive to run a store front when you add up the total cost and a living wage for employees. BTW someone gets to mow the lawn, clean the windows, and unplug the toilets too.

I was always surprised at their return policy and how easy it was to use. I know I had to return items 4 times over a 25-30 year period. Excellent customer service. I always cracked up when you would read about a customer buying a sub, blowing it up by cranking it, and then leaving a nasty comment about how PE had ripped them off. It's never hard to spot abuse.

In any case, whoever took the business over, I wish them well, and hopefully another long run of affordable parts for the DIY and repair community.

Regards
 
I bought a few items from PE over the past few decades, drivers, plate amps connectors etc, but, never had a chance to visit the physical store. Living in Canada, most of my raw speaker and cross-over purchases are from Solen.ca; shipping and customs/duty from the States is a major hassle (now more than ever). But the PE website is a great resource for specs, advice, plans and even as a resource to find out what is available in the marketplace. PE has always been great at stocking obscure and low value hardware and bits and pieces with little profit margin. I'm afraid new owner will cut back on inventory by eliminating products with low mark-up and less contribution to the bottom line.
 
I have to agree with @Timcognito regarding the posting of "only facts" regarding the sale of PE. Other than the OP's mention and this post on DIYAudio, regarding a private equity buyout—both of which are unsubstantiated—PE has not mentioned in any way, shape, or form, the details of the sale of the company. Continuing to post rumors or well-considered opinions—without factual backing—on the sale is, at best, not the kind thing that we, as ASR members, should be supporting. Especially since this discussion is getting notice elsewhere and continuing to propagate rumors over fact.
 
Garbage corpo response that says nothing just dropped. As the kids would say, they're cooked.

theyre so done.png
 
Ktacos said:
Garbage corpo response that says nothing just dropped.
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That was posted in their forum nine (9) hours after you started this discussion, so it didn't "just drop".

pethrd.png


Ktacos said:
As the kids would say, they're cooked.
Click to expand...

What' really going to pop your cork, is that PE was 'bought out' six (6) years ago by a company called Parts Town. There apparently is/was an additional investor in PE called Smart Care Equipment Solutions. Neither of those companies is in the 'audio' business. Seems as though things have been 'cooking' for some time.

Another tidbit; did you know that in addition to their retail operation, PE is also an OEM/ODM for audio equipment and a provider of warehouse space? Not just all bits and bobs.

(The information on PE and the other companies is provided by Pitchbook. I can't vouch for the accuracy of their info and I'm not going to sign up for anything to find out.)
 
thegeton said:
Private equity firms are gobbling up private housing
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It's a concern but numbers in the media like 'private equity now owns >20% of single-family homes' are wildly overstated. (It is also a region-specific issue, not spread evenly across the country.)

Small investors, not private equity/institutional investors, are the ones doing most of that buying-up, for now.
 
krabapple said:
It's a concern but numbers in the media like 'private equity now owns >20% of single-family homes' are wildly overstated. (It is also a region-specific issue, not spread evenly across the country.)

Small investors, not private equity/institutional investors, are the ones doing most of that buying-up, for now.
Click to expand...

Not in the Seattle area, and certainly not true across the Puget Sound in Kitsap and Mason counties. We're actively fighting this and our opponents are big, well monied, and politically connected. Not small investors, they're the least of our concerns.
 
sam_adams said:
That was posted in their forum nine (9) hours after you started this discussion, so it didn't "just drop".
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Yeah I'm not really chronically online and just get to things when I can. I would like to congratulate you on your award for displaying an incredible ability to read forum time stamps. May we all one day strive to achieve such greatness.

award for the smartest people on the planet.png



sam_adams said:
What' really going to pop your cork, is that PE was 'bought out' six (6) years ago by a company called Parts Town. There apparently is/was an additional investor in PE called Smart Care Equipment Solutions. Neither of those companies is in the 'audio' business. Seems as though things have been 'cooking' for some time.

Another tidbit; did you know that in addition to their retail operation, PE is also an OEM/ODM for audio equipment and a provider of warehouse space? Not just all bits and bobs.
Click to expand...

Well aware of all of this, difference being with the previous investors, they didn't immediately shut down parts of the company customers found value in.

Seems this thread has run it's course. Not much else to say about all this.
 
thegeton said:
Not in the Seattle area, and certainly not true across the Puget Sound in Kitsap and Mason counties. We're actively fighting this and our opponents are big, well monied, and politically connected. Not small investors, they're the least of our concerns.
Click to expand...
As I literally wrote, it is a region-specific issue. As the article notes, This share is higher in some local markets — in the 20 Metropolitan Statistical Areas where these investors are most present, they own 12.4 percent — but they still own far less than 20 percent nationwide.

Obviously specific locales will have their own particular numbers. But nationally, the real estate investors in single-family homes are overwhelmingly small landlords and second-home owners:

[...] investor-owned homes account for roughly 20% of the nation’s 86 million single-family homes, the firm said.
Of those, mom-and-pop investors, or those who own between 1 and 5 homes, account for 85% of all investor-owned residential properties, while those with between 6 and 10 properties account for another 5%.
Institutional investors that own 1,000 or more homes account for only about 2.2% of all investor-owned homes, the firm said.
https://apnews.com/article/real-est...lity-housing-7aa2bc78c87bfb1f292fe4321fe658cb

And in the case of Seattle, a jump in large investor buy ups of single family lots has much to do with the CIty liberalizing its zoning, allowing more multi-family buildings, i.e. apartments, increasing housing to meet demand. Which is a *good thing*, no? Though of course it may prove not be a good experience to be renting from a faceless PE firm:

www.king5.com

'Mega’ property investors snap up Seattle homes, bucking national trend

Institutional buyers boosted their holdings by 31% in the second quarter, while the U.S. housing market cooled under high interest rates.
www.king5.com www.king5.com
 
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sam_adams said:
....What' really going to pop your cork, is that PE was 'bought out' six (6) years ago by a company called Parts Town. ....
Click to expand...

Ready to have your mind absolutely blown? Not everything that Google regurgitates is correct. Parts Town acquired PartsXpress (not Parts Express). In fact, Parts Town acquired PartsXpress from Smart Care. Note also, it is possible that there is more than one "Parts Express", they just could not be both be in the Audio business.
 
People should keep their minds more damp, so they are less likely to blow.

And btw the topic reads 'RIP Parts-Express' .
Are we even sure we're talking about Parts Express? ;)
 
krabapple said:
As I literally wrote, it is a region-specific issue. As the article notes, This share is higher in some local markets — in the 20 Metropolitan Statistical Areas where these investors are most present, they own 12.4 percent — but they still own far less than 20 percent nationwide.

Obviously specific locales will have their own particular numbers. But nationally, the real estate investors in single-family homes are overwhelmingly small landlords and second-home owners:

[...] investor-owned homes account for roughly 20% of the nation’s 86 million single-family homes, the firm said.
Of those, mom-and-pop investors, or those who own between 1 and 5 homes, account for 85% of all investor-owned residential properties, while those with between 6 and 10 properties account for another 5%.
Institutional investors that own 1,000 or more homes account for only about 2.2% of all investor-owned homes, the firm said.
https://apnews.com/article/real-est...lity-housing-7aa2bc78c87bfb1f292fe4321fe658cb

And in the case of Seattle, a jump in large investor buy ups of single family lots has much to do with the CIty liberalizing its zoning, allowing more multi-family buildings, i.e. apartments, increasing housing to meet demand. Which is a *good thing*, no? Though of course it may prove not be a good experience to be renting from a faceless PE firm:

www.king5.com

'Mega’ property investors snap up Seattle homes, bucking national trend

Institutional buyers boosted their holdings by 31% in the second quarter, while the U.S. housing market cooled under high interest rates.
www.king5.com www.king5.com
Click to expand...

Jeebus, ok, you win.
 
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krabapple said:
People should keep their minds more damp, so they are less likely to blow.

And btw the topic reads 'RIP Parts-Express' .
Are we even sure we're talking about Parts Express? ;)
Click to expand...
their URL includes the dash. At one point, early on in their e-commerce, they had it as partsexpress in the URL, but that can be mis-parsed. ;)
 
My shipment arrived unceremoniously without a packing list much less any ownership news.

For now, it's business as usual it seems. :)
 
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