Pickup and Van Heaven Opens to Serve Tarrant County Customers

FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 28 -- Pickup and Van Heaven, "Where All The Best Pickups And Vans Go To Rest", recently opened with a full product line of recycled pickup and van parts. The facility, located at 1409 Carson, opened February 1 with over 100 vehicles in inventory.

Karen Gibson, President, said, "after exhaustive research on the customer needs, the competitors and current product offerings in Tarrant County, this market segment is clearly underserved. As the costs of new parts continues to rise, with the economic uncertainty today, more and more customers are considering recycled vehicle parts vs. new ones."

All vehicles are inventoried in Pickup and Van Heaven's state of the art proprietary computerized inventory, The Pinnacle System, and then systematically disassembled. Only the parts that pass inspections, and are needed, are then stored in Pickup and Van Heaven's warehouse for future sales. The rigorous inspection, inventory, dismantling and storage process assures the consumer of the best value. The computerized management system tracks requests vs. supplies, to help with demand planning. Karen adds, "our investment in technologies will allow us to offer optimum service at competitive prices to our customers." The store also features an ATM for customer's convenience, another benefit not typically seen in auto recycling businesses.

Pickup and Van Heaven is part of a consolidated group of 7 recyclers in Fort Worth, United Recyclers Group of North Texas. The facilities share best practices, buying, administrative and delivery services, and market together. Tammy Sturgeon, the group's marketing director, says, "we needed this product line to help us meet our goal of serving all customers with all types of vehicles, and Karen's commitment to customer satisfaction is an asset." The group offers money back guarantees to customers, which is uncommon in the industry, in addition to extended product warranties up to the lifetime of the vehicle the part is used on. All the group's inventories are available on the internet in their shopping mall.

The North American market for automotive recycling is estimated at $8 billion annually. The industry is stable and non-cyclical. About five million vehicles are collected for recycling each year.

According to an Automotive Recyclers Association 1997 study, the market is highly fragmented and competitive with approximately 6,000 dismantling yards. DFW is home to at least 100 such operations, according to the recently published yellow pages.