What ever happenned to...

[aftermarket]

Autozeal.......


I heard that they went tits up a few months ago....anyone know what actually happenned? Hear of anyone who did business with them and is now without their money and no parts? I was under the impression that they were doing ok.

Sorry, I don't know of this was actually posted before, search came up empty, so I apologize in advance if its already been discussed.

BTW, happy halloween!

[illeagle]

i think he sold the buisness (rumer) One guy, says the N.E. store is still open

[izzoblitzo]

Their web page is still there.. although it looks like its updating.

Havent heard anything from them regarding location/status etc.

Anybody got any info?

[Spenser]

16th avenue expansion or something.

[Melinda]

I do believe there was a stickied multi thread page on this...autozeal is closed

[5.9 R/T]

I heard that the owner put his deed on the line against Speed Tech at race wars and lost the race, and now speed tech owns it and is using it to store civics that are missing spoon engines.

[jdmakkord]

Originally posted by 5.9 R/T
I heard that the owner put his deed on the line against Speed Tech at race wars and lost the race, and now speed tech owns it and is using it to store civics that are missing spoon engines. :rofl:

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by 5.9 R/T
I heard that the owner put his deed on the line against Speed Tech at race wars and lost the race, and now speed tech owns it and is using it to store civics that are missing spoon engines.

hahahaha :rofl: :rofl:

he didn't know what he was up against, the s2000 had at LEAST $100 000 under the hood

[sxtasy]

Originally posted by 5.9 R/T
I heard that the owner put his deed on the line against Speed Tech at race wars and lost the race, and now speed tech owns it and is using it to store civics that are missing spoon engines. haha, you are hilarious man:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ToanZ_StyleZ]

actually from wht i heard, impressionz owns autozeal now...autozeal owed impressions alot of money and didn't have enuff to pay back so they took over the shop...

[link785]

Originally posted by ToanZ_StyleZ
actually from wht i heard, impressionz owns autozeal now...autozeal owed impressions alot of money and didn't have enuff to pay back so they took over the shop...

Hooray, a crappy shop took over Autozeal, just what we need.

[jdmakkord]

Originally posted by link785


Hooray, a crappy shop took over Autozeal, just what we need. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[silverEL]

i thought that autodream bought their license, and phone number

[DUBBED]

so does anybody actually know?

[88CRX]

Originally posted by DUBBED
so does anybody actually know?

i've heard 5 or 6 different stories now lol

[izzoblitzo]

The last I heard, they were moving away from their uptown location to the Chinook general area.

I had a front bumper on order, and jeevs actually came by to drop it off at my house like, 2 weeks or so after they supposedly moved out.

They were a pretty good group of guys, it would have been nice to see them move into a new place with a shop in the back or something.

The 'tuner' market in Calgary is still growing, and the loss of another shop (as you recall, RPM went back to smaller scale earlier this year) would be a blow to the scene... in terms of price, selection, etc.

[Maxt]

Calgary is a pretty small market really, only a million people...and then Canada with approximately only 35 million people, its hard to get the sales needed to sustain a good shop... We'd all love to have shops like California, but remember there are more people in California than Canada, and the density ratio makes for greater sales with walk in traffic...
OK... for import performance shops I can think of, feel free to add..
Speedville
Impressions
Speedtech
autodream
that place in T&T honda
Tunerworks
There are others but I am not going to include the sticker/neon/chrome wiper blade dealers...
But there are six places, competing for a very small amount of business... There is money in this town, but there are few people with real serious projects, and few that are willing to put real money into real serious projects.
It gets pretty hard to survive just selling shift knobs and light bulbs..Lots a show around, not much go...
Stand in line at any one of these places, and there is always a pile of dorks in front of you, asking for a 5 dollar item, and then wanting it for 4 because they saw it on Ebay for 3.99....Thats why shops go bankrupt...Our ricer to racer ratio is just way to damn high...
Also being such a small market, word of shoddy workmanship travels fast and can sink a shop pretty quick..
Autozeal set up a shop right behind where I worked in the SE.. , I never saw much more action than just people cleaning a few of their cars there.. Hard to pay for a shop doing that...Attrition sucks, but it happens....Maxt

[James]

:rofl:....so many differnet stories...funny shit

[izzoblitzo]

Originally posted by Maxt
Calgary is a pretty small market really, only a million people...and then Canada with approximately only 35 million people, its hard to get the sales needed to sustain a good shop... We'd all love to have shops like California, but remember there are more people in California than Canada, and the density ratio makes for greater sales with walk in traffic...
OK... for import performance shops I can think of, feel free to add..
Speedville
Impressions
Speedtech
autodream
that place in T&T honda
Tunerworks
There are others but I am not going to include the sticker/neon/chrome wiper blade dealers...
But there are six places, competing for a very small amount of business... There is money in this town, but there are few people with real serious projects, and few that are willing to put real money into real serious projects.
It gets pretty hard to survive just selling shift knobs and light bulbs..Lots a show around, not much go...
Stand in line at any one of these places, and there is always a pile of dorks in front of you, asking for a 5 dollar item, and then wanting it for 4 because they saw it on Ebay for 3.99....Thats why shops go bankrupt...Our ricer to racer ratio is just way to damn high...
Also being such a small market, word of shoddy workmanship travels fast and can sink a shop pretty quick..
Autozeal set up a shop right behind where I worked in the SE.. , I never saw much more action than just people cleaning a few of their cars there.. Hard to pay for a shop doing that...Attrition sucks, but it happens....Maxt


ah yeah.. thats a good way to see it... if thats the case.. Im sooo opening a ricer shop. I'd get like, TONNES of business if I sell stickers/badges/fancy exhaust and led neon lights! I could prolly pay rent just by selling those calvin peeing decals alone! :bigpimp:

*L*

actually, I'd prolly be forced under by Canadian Tire and Walmart, seeing as they sell massive quantities of that.. and all those trucks we see around town with those stickers. :nut:

Chinatown is like the epicentre of all these cars.. sure, theres the famous ones that are cruisin around town.. definately been in the scene.. but just stand in the middle of the T&T supermarket parkinglot, or the centre street bridge in Chinatown for just 30seconds, and you'll spot somebody with something done. It really comes down to the people you serve. Like, for the most part, if people are going for show, they wont do a whole lot to their engine... maybe dress it up here and there.. and for those people goin hardcore for the go, they wont really bother too much with the show. Some shops in town are mainly for show, and some are for go as well.

For example, speedtech has a shop that can cater to the engine swapping crowd, but the autozeal location didnt have those kinds of facilities, so they never could do those in-house.

From as long as I could remember, autozeal was there in the begining, I remember walkin in there the day it opened (my family physician owned and operated the building) and they pretty much sold air fresheners.. I saw these very basic ground fx kits I think for an old civic.. and at the time, I didnt have the slightest clue what those were for, thinkin, why would someone do that to their car??

but as times changed, and the red honda emblem - mugen decal -dancing neon - altezza light generation passed/evolved, autozeal's potential got lost in the shuffle.. sure, I think they woulda been pretty wicked to move into a new place, but newer shops that are catering to the new needs have the edge right now. This whole tuner thing wont go away, and new trends will come and go. Sad to see them go, if thats the case though.:(

[Maxt]

Yeah I know the cars you are talkin about, I see them in the same places as well... I think in Calgary, the go cars could be counted on 2 hands..The show cars well :rolleyes:...every damn traffic light, its a tiburon with neon squirters and a boom box...
I imagine that if CT and walmart weren't in that game, one could probably survive on the ricer paraphenalia, but like you say, they can sell at what most shops cost is...Lots of people buy that stuff, but like I said before, the clientle for that stuff is pretty thrifty, and they shop around to save 50 cents on a 5 dollar item, I know every has a budget, but sometimes its ridiculous... I have been at speedville sometimes, and I watch these people come in, and try and talk the price down on the most ridiculous of items.. I don't know how Karl takes it, I would lose patience, and probably grab em buy the collar, and tell them to buy the f'ing thing, or get the f'out...
I could only wish the scene would die down a bit , gettin real tired of every 16 year old cracker asking me if I got Nawsss, and if I street race.. When things go mainstream, everything gets diluted to much and attracts those that shouldn't be...Maxt

[Barlow]

ummm yeah if i remember right illusionSiR wrote a big speal on how the market just wasn;t here nemore, and the cali thing man look at the weather, they have all season after market pretty much nmot jkust three months of it, thats why cali and places like that are so competetive

[Maxt]

Yeah thats a big part of it to...We are down on population, and season...We can't drive a tuned out car in the winter, well, not very well anyway, so we have to usually have 2 cars, which knocks down what we can spend on the summer one...
If you think it sucks for shops....Try owning an Rx-7 .....Maxt

[izzoblitzo]

heh! in that case, I think someone should come up with like, a conversion store... like SummerCo/WinterCo... you know, that store that sells boarddoctor jackets during the winter, and converts into a swimwear clothing store during seasons..

During the winter, when everyone has their trucks out, a tunershop can be selling calvin peeing paraphanelia, high performance windshield washer fluid and antifreeze, and 'foglights', and when summer hits, they can go back to selling body kits again!! *L*

well, in many ways, isnt being cheap the root for a ricer anyways? Like, buying a $20 exhaust whistle to immitate a real bov? or how about type R decals for their 'teg to pass as the real thing? Its really tough to carry all the body kits, in all the styles, for every car, for every year... thats crazy.. and those things arnt cheap. The overhead cant be a whole lot when you consider the shipping/import fees etc etc.

I can understand tryin to deal for say, rims,seats, body kits, engines etc... blue chip items at those kinds of stores.. cos they really do cost a pretty penny.. but goin in for say, $10 bulbs and tryin to knock it down a couple of cents isnt really anything of a sale compared to the big ticket items. Sure, the chances of someone comin in on any given day buying lightbulbs is more common than someone comin in and paying cash for a set of rims, but still.

Thats why you see so many civics with just altezza lights, or kias with dancing neons, and cavaliers with APC sprawled across the window. People arnt putting the money into doing up a car they'll end up driving for two and a half months.

my cavalier (which because I have a kit and 18's w/performance tires) is now such a 2 1/2 month driver. I paid like 20G's for it, and now, that I've just got a kit, (and kit paint/install), rims, exhaust and a buncha other stuff.. I've spent close to $10G's just on aftermarket parts.. Im nowhere near finished.. and I'll only get to drive it 2 1/2 months in a year.. wow.. I coulda bought an entry level bmw that I coulda drove year round for that price.

So imagine a student without a job.. 16+/-.. he'll just buy/act out whatever you can get.. which comes down to xenon bulbs, dancing neons, altezza lights, stickers, badges and exhaust tips to mimic these tuned cars they saw at WoW or something.

[Spenser]

SO, do you have nos? and does the smoke shout out the side?

I always thought calgary had a pretty big car scene, we have race city, all the speed shops and ricer shops, and there is just alot of people here who enjoy cars, are there other cities like ours in canada with something like beyond? I would doubt it,

I used to work next to impressions and they were always really busy.

it's the survival of the fitest, the shitty shops are just going to fail

[Spenser]

Originally posted by izzoblitzo

my cavalier (which because I have a kit and 18's w/performance tires) is now such a 2 1/2 month driver. I paid like 20G's for it, and now, that I've just got a kit, (and kit paint/install), rims, exhaust and a buncha other stuff.. I've spent close to $10G's just on aftermarket parts.. Im nowhere near finished.. and I'll only get to drive it 2 1/2 months in a year.. wow.. I coulda bought an entry level bmw that I coulda drove year round for that price.


No wonder every one has nothing done to their cars, they all get ripped off.

[Maxt]

No, I don't have naws, and no smoke shooters either... The F&F has just been way to influential on youth I am afraid...
Our scene isn't very well rounded though, with the v-8 guys its either small block chevs or mustangs, and all the import stores basically sell all the same stuff from all the same suppliers..
Not to much innovation or production happens here, as the population and market grows we will see more.. Guys like SDS have stuck it out, hope to see more here in the future..Max

[izzoblitzo]

Originally posted by Spenser


No wonder every one has nothing done to their cars, they all get ripped off.

Heh! Yeah, my ride is your typical domestic eco car. Back when I got it, I loaded it with essential things like A/C, CD, etc etc thinkin it'd be my daily driver for school.. but I ended up droppin a couple dollars here and there.. and voila.. my lil project.. it isnt much when you compare it to your oh might civic in terms of aftermarket availability, but hey, it adds a lil flavor to the mix.

There's a market out there for domestics, and Im sure if a shop would do a lil more promoting of these parts for these cars, Im sure they'd make a pretty penny, as domestics are still low-key 'tuner' cars in today's scene.

If a shop would open up to some of these overlooked areas, Im sure they could.:D

but then again, who am I to say, the hate for domestics in the import scene is still rampant. No love for cavs and neons. :angel:

[thich]

Originally posted by Maxt
No, I don't have naws, and no smoke shooters either... The F&F has just been way to influential on youth I am afraid...
Our scene isn't very well rounded though, with the v-8 guys its either small block chevs or mustangs, and all the import stores basically sell all the same stuff from all the same suppliers..
Not to much innovation or production happens here, as the population and market grows we will see more.. Guys like SDS have stuck it out, hope to see more here in the future..Max

well SDS has managed to stick around due to it supplying a specialty product and a specialty service.
is RX7 Specialist (or wutever it was called) still around? (pricey place iirc)
autodream is catering more and more into the Nissan niche.
Tunerworks is big on BMW
and there are a number of VW tuners in Calgary too.

I find the ones that manage to stick around longest are the ones that will be able to define their own markets, services and products.
it's hard to be a be-all-to-all kind of shop; in a more competitive environment, it's best to specialize.
saturated markets are just too hard to compete in -- just look at Computer Science markets now... so difficult for many graduates to find jobs... there is not much that differentiates the next graduate from another. same principle can be applied to shops if there is no specialization involved.

[Dirty_SOHC]

Originally posted by silverEL
i thought that autodream bought their license, and phone number
:werd: This is true

[link785]

Originally posted by Maxt
Speedville
Impressions
Speedtech
autodream
that place in T&T honda
Tunerworks

Unlimited Performance

[Maxt]

I wouldn't include unlimited performance in that list, they hardly cater to the import crowd, and wouldn't know greddy from their elbow....
yeah SDS has broken the bounds of the local market, and that is what keeps them going, they ship worldwide so they aren't totally dependent on the local scene..Although they need to do an update, they are getting kinda left behind in the EMS game.
I would agree with the specialization from the parts aspect, its easier and more cost effective to cater to one particular brand or model in that regard, although it kinda paints you into a corner with your customer base... I think so far, alot of the shops have survived just due to having a captive audience more than anything, as the market expands and it gets more competitve, the consumer will seperate the cream from the curds, a small market is good in that sense for some it detracts compettitors and allows stranglehold marketing..
But all around, good things are happening, 5 year ago, even findin a dyno was next to impossible..now its pretty easy, and cheap...Maxt

[link785]

Originally posted by Maxt
I wouldn't include unlimited performance in that list, they hardly cater to the import crowd, and wouldn't know greddy from their elbow....

... Ok, they can order in just about any and every part for an import, so I don't see why you can't put them on the list.

[Dr. Lightspeed]

First of all running a good shop is hard you need good people. One screw up even if it really isn't your fault gets pasted from one end of the net to the other. No one gives you a chance to make it right without blasting your name all over. Then the other shops want to bash rather than find the real problem. You also can have the best service and reasonable prices but most will buy off of some JohnnySpeed.com rather than supporting their locals. So soon the speed shops are installing other peoples stuff that they bought online for only a few dollars cheaper. The import crowd does not support the dealers in town except for stuff that costs too much to have shipped from ebay. I find myself fixing more and more home screw ups. Very few people want it right just cheap. Also Unlimited is not an import shop shure they can get anything that everyone else can get but they really don't know what it is yet.

[link785]

Originally posted by Dr. Lightspeed
Very few people want it right just cheap.

Agreed.

[403Gemini]

id recomend auto dream in a second. met one of the employees this weekend at a training seminar for my work and nice guy. very open to everybody, treated everybody good... and if their service is as good as this guy treated me id be willing to send anybody over there.

[Maxt]

Originally posted by link785


... Ok, they can order in just about any and every part for an import, so I don't see why you can't put them on the list.
Yeah ok, go in and ask Andy for advice on injectors for a rx-7... Or if he knows where I can get a Kaaz lsd, or maybe even a os giken clutch assembly...give me a break, they couldn't even get shit when I was building a 440 chrysler, let alone an import....Maxt