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Sergi starts company in Stow spare bedroom
By Jim Mackinnon
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
Summit Racing Equipment in Tallmadge is to car nuts what Cedar Point amusement park is to roller-coaster fans. You want a spiffy, small block V-8 for that '57 Chevy project car in your garage? Got it. Specialty tools? Yep. Edelbrock multipoint EFI conversion kit? Of course. And clothing, memorabilia and other gifts for gearheads, including, yes, a ''machined-aluminum 6-speed toilet pump.'' (Hey, it goes well with the machined-aluminum toilet-paper holder, the machined-aluminum toilet flush handle and the custom-flamed toilet seat.) The store's eye candy includes real NASCAR cars hoisted high on the back walls on a mock track, and tricked-out dragsters spinning slowly on massive turntables along the storefront windows. You can spend a couple of dollars on a trinket, or more than $12,000 for an engine. Not bad for a business that got its start in 1968 as a part-time, one-person operation and has since grown to become a key player in the $36.7 billion-a-year specialty automotive products industry. Although the privately held company does not release financial information, it describes itself as the world's largest automotive-performance
equipment company, with sales coming from its catalogs, Web site and stores.
Summit Racing plans to celebrate its 40 years in business next year with special promotions and activities.
''We try to pay attention to what people want,'' said Nan Gelhard, Summit Racing spokeswoman and advertising manager. ''We're always upgrading things in here. There's always new things to look at.''
Paul Sergi started the company in the spare bedroom of his Stow home to offset the costs of modifying Corvettes, and eventually quit his job as an engineer at heavy equipment company Terex to focus on growing the home business.
From that modest start, Summit Racing evolved into primarily a catalog firm selling tens of thousands of items; it now has retail outlets and warehouses in Georgia and Nevada to go with its 25,000-square-foot flagship store, headquarters and warehouse just off Interstate 76 in Tallmadge.
The focus has been providing fast, low-cost service, free ground shipping and a vast number of products. The Tallmadge warehouse, which has been expanded over the years, holds millions of parts from 519 manufacturers.
Sergi and President Ray Tatko declined to be interviewed. But although company executives are tight-lipped about their operations — they won't reveal the number of employees — their formula certainly works with customers. While their walk-in retail customers typically are from within 150 miles of one of the three stores, Summit Racing's customers are from all over.
''We get guys from Brazil who come in here all the time,'' said Jim Greenleaf, manager of the Tallmadge store.
''We truly are a global company,'' Gelhard said.
Businesses such as Summit Racing are increasingly important to the specialty automotive-equipment industry, said Peter MacGillivray, spokesman for the California-based trade group Specialty Equipment Market Association, also known as SEMA.
''They are a very big player,'' MacGillivray said. ''They connect our industry to the customers, the gearheads and the enthusiasts.''
Those customers are heavily into personalizing their vehicles, whether a car, truck or sport utility vehicle, by enhancing the styling or the performance, he said. Although the core group would be considered hot-rod and racing enthusiasts, customers range from homemakers to doctors, he said.
Summit Racing has become part of the enthusiast culture, MacGillivray said. People from all over the world want to visit the stores, he said.
''You want to visit them because they're authentic,'' he said. ''It's like the Orvis store (in Vermont) for fishermen.''
Summit Racing's typical customer is ''anybody who appreciates performance,'' Gelhard said. ''It's normally a man.''
But female customers are increasing, too, she said. Helping propel interest in the specialty are niche television shows on customizing vehicles, she said. ''They are broadening the audience for this,'' Gelhard said.
Summit Racing also works to put its name out before that audience. It sponsors race cars and racing events, and acquired the naming rights to Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk.
The company also goes out of its way to bring customers to its stores.
It sponsors eight car shows a summer in Tallmadge, Greenleaf said.
The Northeastern Ohio Camaro Club and its 266 members hold shows at the Tallmadge store. The car club shows, which are typically fundraisers for the groups, are another way that Summit Racing endears itself to enthusiasts.
''Because it's Summit, people want to go to the show,'' said Judi Beach, historian for the Camaro club and a former Summit Racing store employee.
Beach said she and her husband buy a lot of items for their cars at the Tallmadge store.
''We have four Camaros, so we buy all sorts of things,'' she said. ''I like that they know what they're doing. They seem to be well-trained on what they do.''
The 50 members of the Northeast Ohio Mustang Club also make a habit of shopping at Summit Racing, said Don Woerz, club president and a Tallmadge resident.
''I was just over there and bought a car cover,'' he said. ''I was treated real well. They do good work.''
Summit Racing has also been a good neighbor, he said. ''The city likes them,'' Woerz said. ''They have been good for Tallmadge.''
Five key decisions
The company said five main decisions over the past 40 years fueled its growth.
In 1972, Summit Racing decided to expand beyond its store into mail order, beginning with ads in the back of enthusiast magazines. It produced its first catalog in 1974.
In 1980, the company built its first project vehicle as a way to show off its expertise. That was followed in subsequent years by more project cars and sponsoring professional race cars.
The third milestone, in 1990, was Summit Racing's decision to keep its customer service and technical help lines open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Eight years later, two more decisions —one brick and mortar, the other electronic — added to Summit Racing's expansion. The company in 1998 opened a second warehouse in Sparks, Nev., so it could offer free, two-day shipping to much of the West Coast.
That year, the company also created its online parts catalog, http://www.SummitRacing.com.
MacGillivray at SEMA said most people think of Amazon.com as the pioneer in online shopping. ''I've often been struck by how this Summit Racing business was on the leading edge of this,'' he said.
''We got this far because we really do listen to what customers want,'' Gelhard said. ''We recruit people who are enthusiasts.''
And to keep its customers enthusiastic, Summit Racing will continue to evolve, she said.
Part of that evolution took place this year when Summit Racing bought Genuine Hotrod Hardware Inc., a small Northeast Ohio company that sells specialty gift items.
''We are going to go where the interest grows, where the hobby goes,'' Gelhard said.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
Summit Racing Equipment in Tallmadge is to car nuts what Cedar Point amusement park is to roller-coaster fans. You want a spiffy, small block V-8 for that '57 Chevy project car in your garage? Got it. Specialty tools? Yep. Edelbrock multipoint EFI conversion kit? Of course. And clothing, memorabilia and other gifts for gearheads, including, yes, a ''machined-aluminum 6-speed toilet pump.'' (Hey, it goes well with the machined-aluminum toilet-paper holder, the machined-aluminum toilet flush handle and the custom-flamed toilet seat.) The store's eye candy includes real NASCAR cars hoisted high on the back walls on a mock track, and tricked-out dragsters spinning slowly on massive turntables along the storefront windows. You can spend a couple of dollars on a trinket, or more than $12,000 for an engine. Not bad for a business that got its start in 1968 as a part-time, one-person operation and has since grown to become a key player in the $36.7 billion-a-year specialty automotive products industry. Although the privately held company does not release financial information, it describes itself as the world's largest automotive-performance
equipment company, with sales coming from its catalogs, Web site and stores.
Get the full article here.
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