 
AG Distributors Sells Inventory to Mr. Windshield; Attributes Closure to Growing Price Pressures
May 26, 2011
AG Distributors has sold its remaining inventory to Mr. Windshield, which has locations in both Lewiston and Moscow, Idaho. The Boise, Idaho-based company had closed its doors last August, according to co-owner Steve Theisen, prior to the final inventory sale this spring.
“The pressure got to be too much,” says Theisen of the company’s exit from the business. “We were the little guy trying to compete against the big guys.”
Theisen and his partner, Moe Stark, had opened the company in 2001, and had added locations in Salt Lake City and Spokane, Wash., but closed both of those in the three years prior to its final closure.
“I think the distributors had compressed so much over the years, and when you’re as small as we were, we re-trenched and went back just our original location in Boise,” says Theisen, “but the Pilkingtons and PPGs of the world kept pushing on price and [we] really couldn’t compete on price.”
The company initially held an auction in February, and then sold the remaining 8,000 units of glass to Mr. Windshield, which has two retail locations.
Theisen offered the following advice for independent shops working against some of the same pressures he fought against.
“Find a niche and run things tightly,” he says. “If we had been running things tighter before the economy turned on us, we’d probably still be in business. We just didn’t go into the downturn with any reserves. We had three locations within less than three years but we didn’t have any time to get those locations rooted before the economy turned.”
While Mr. Windshield acquired the majority of the company’s assets, Theisen and Stark retained the rights to the AG Distributors Name and the business itself. However, Theisen says he doesn’t anticipate a return.
“I doubt very highly that I’ll be back in the business,” he says. “At this point I’m just done with it.”
Need more info and analysis about the issues?
Subscribe to AGRR Magazine. |