Electronics, chemicals to be highlight of automotives show - 1995 Automotives Aftermarket Industry Week show

Discount Store News, Oct 16, 1995

LAS VEGAS -- Electronics is putting its stamp on the ever growing 1995 Automotives Aftermarket Industry Week show to be held here Oct. 24 to 27.

This year, an array of seminars and displays will be available to convention attendees. Among them:

* The Automotive Parts Accessories Association--one of the four sponsoring industry associations--will display its new Web page on the World Wide Web, part of the Internet, at its booth at the Sands Expo Center. It also is offering free software so its members can connect.

* APAA will present three topical seminars on Email, including How Electronic Messaging Will Change the Way You Do Business' Oct. 24.

* Skytel will provide a free loan of alphanumeric pagers --which can send text messages as well as numbers--to show attendees who reserve them in advance.

The new APAA software provides members access to the Internet and a planogram service that allows them to develop a product placement map. It also allows members to Email other APAA members through a directory. Each company member gets his own Email address.

Keeping up with the trend to Web pages, Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack has taken out a home page on the Web as a test, with the address of www.PepBoysbuyers.com. About a dozen aftermarket companies now have established Web pages on the Internet.

According to APAA president Al Gaspar, electronics will also be a key merchandise category for vendors. There will be products and training on how to repair computer-operated systems on board today's complex automobiles, including cellular car phones and even fax machines.

Chemicals and accessories are likely to have special prominence, given the shift in aftermarket sales from parts to chemicals. From 1990 to 1995, the automotives aftermarket has seen a $9 billion shift in sales to chemicals from parts, according to the Lang Marketing Report. As a percentage of the total, parts have declined to 67% in 1995 from 73% in 1990. Chemicals now represent 14% of the aftermarket, up from 12%. Accessories account for 16%, up from 13% in the five-year period.

Also, the marine industry will be exhibiting a selection of boat accessories and trailers, which Gaspar predicted will soon make their way into automotives aftermarket stores.

Despite the electronics craze, Trak Auto president R. Keith Green said that he "will be concentrating on the basics."

A highlight of this year's show will be the Oct. 23 keynote address by Paul Baffico, president of the Sears Automotives Group, on the day before the exhibit floors open. He will discuss how Sears relates to the automotives market and where the retailer is heading.

The show is comprised of two parts. Besides APAA, the Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association and the Automotive Service Industry Association will sponsor what formerly was called the APAA show at the Sands Expo, featuring standard auto parts, accessories and chemicals. The second part, featuring specialty and performance equipment, will be presented at the Las Vegas Convention Center and sponsored by the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association and Auto International.

Attending the show is important as a verification that "you've guessed right on merchandise trends," said a merchandise manager of a large chain who requested to remain nameless.

"You can get a feel about trends as other suppliers see them, not just your own vendors," he said.

At the same time, attending the show to meet with key people is less important because presidents of key vendors are already making sales calls to the retailers. Moreover, in the days of category management, buyers are concerned with more than just buying product, including inventory control and chain expansion.

Accordingly, attending the show just to buy product becomes less important than before, the manager said, so his chain talks less in advance about new products than in previous years.