b&l auto 35th anniversary flyer

2, Thursday | September 16, 2010, Bangor Daily News - B&L Auto Parts 35th Anniversary

By David M. FitzpatrickBDN SPECIAL SECTIONS

On Saturday, September 18, B&L Auto Partswill celebrate the grand opening of its newlocation on Outer Hammond Street and its35th anniversary from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., withlots of great attractions.

FFRREEEE CCOOOOKKOOUUTT for everyone who stopsby, including hot dogs, hamburgers, chickenburgers, pasta salad, potato chips, and cookies.

LLIIVVEE BBRROOAADDCCAASSTTfrom Q106.5.HHUUNNDDRREEDDSS OOFF PPRRIIZZEESS including the

grand prize of a 32-inch Samsung LCD televi-sion, And other great prizes including a $500gift certificate for advertising with the BangorDaily News; a four-piece, 18-volt Dewalt toolset; an Intel-based netbook; a Flip digital cam-corder;and a $150 Walmart gift card. Also avail-able will be gas grills, Craftsman toolboxes,screwdriver sets, and piles of $25 Visa gift cards.

FFOOUURRTTEEEENN FFAACCTTOORRYY RREEPPSS will be onhand to show off new products, conductdemonstrations, and hand out freebies such asT-shirts and caps.

GGUUIIDDEEDD TTOOUURRSS of the spacious new show-room and warehouse, which will give B&L’sinstallers a chance to see that the company isn’tjoking when it says it has the biggest inventoryaround.

SSPPEECCIIAALLTTYY VVEEHHIICCLLEESS will include cus-tom-airbrushed motorcycles from a customerwho gets his paints mixed at B&L; some uniqueold cars; B&L General Manager Mike Carter’santique snowmobiles; and drag cars, includinga T-bucket hot rod based on the old Ford

Model T.AA DDUUNNKK TTAANNKK to raise money for Manna

Ministries; buy balls with cash or donations ofnonperishable food items, and your gift helpsthose in need — plus, you get to sink severalmembers of the B&L staff, as well as this Ban-gor Daily News writer.

RR22-DD22 will be there, along with his travelingmechanic Paul Bussiere, to help raise money forManna (see story at left).

In support of the Manna fund-raiser, severallocal vendors are generously contributing sup-plies, including Coca-Cola, Danforth’s, Dunkin’Donuts at State and Wilson in Brewer, Dunkin’Donuts on the Odlin Road, Getchell Ice, PepsiCola, Save-A-Lot, Warren Office Supply, andW.B. Mason.

There will be something for everyone, and itwill raise money for a good cause.


A short time from now, in an auto-parts store close, close by…

R2-D2, the lovable astromech droidfrom the “Star Wars” films, will be atB&L’s 35th-anniversary celebration tohelp draw crowds to support B&L’s fund-raising for Manna Ministries. Artoo’sRebel friend, Paul Bussiere, will assistArtoo in entertaining kids of all ages.

Bussiere, a help-desk associate at East-ern Maine Healthcare Systems, beganbuilding Artoo in 2003 following adebate with a friend about how themovie Artoo worked. Seven years andover $7,000 later, Bussiere has built theonly Artoo replica in Maine. There are sixor seven in New England and about 100worldwide. Lucasfilm allows them solong as the builders don’t make moneyoff them. But charity events are welcome,

and Artoo is a regular guest at EMMC’sPediatrics unit, where Bussiere’s godsonspent time before passing away from can-cer in 1994.

Before the Artoo project, Bussiere’stoolbox contained just a hammer and ascrewdriver, but he’s learned a lot on thefly. He officially completed Artoo lastHalloween, but he’s always improving thedroid. He’s just added the arm Artoo usesin the movies to access computers andopen doors, and is working to add a pro-jector like the one Luke Skywalker andObi-Wan Kenobi used to play backPrincess Leia’s SOS message.

There are blueprints, but there is noR2-D2 kit. Hobbyists band together toorder parts; when enough orders are in,they contract with a machinist to makethem. But Bussiere has even used someparts for Artoo that he purchased right atB&L Auto Parts. One such part was ashock absorber to keep Artoo from

bumping too harshly. Obviously,no auto-parts store stocks droidparts, but that didn’t stop the B&Lcounter man.

“He thought for a second andsaid, ‘You know, we have somestuff, kind of like a muffler hanger,that might work,’” Bussiererecalled. “So he took me out backand started opening boxes.”

Sure enough, they found one.Bussiere cut the hanger in half andinstalled it. “This little three-dollarpiece did the trick, just like somany other things inside thisrobot,” he said.

Bussiere is looking forward tothe B&L event Saturday. “I’m veryexcited to see what the guys at B&Lthink of Artoo,” he said, recallingshowing the counter staff pictures

September 18, 2010, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

This Special Section was produced and published by the

WWrriitteerr//LLaayyoouutt:: David M. Fitzpatrick, Bangor Daily NewsPPhhoottooss:: Debra Bell & David M. Fitzpatrick, Bangor Daily News

Some photos provided courtesy of B&L Auto Parts

CCoovveerr DDeessiiggnn:: Michele Prentice, Bangor Daily NewsSSaalleess:: Ben Drouin, Bangor Daily News

If you’d like to celebrate your organization’s milestone, consider runningyour own Special Section. For more information, contact Paul Herrick at

(207) 990-8295 or [email protected].

B&L Celebrates 35 Yearsand the relocation to its new building at

1292 Outer Hammond St., BangorNext to Greenway Equipment Sales and across

from TBA Tires Batteries Accessories & Trailers

Stories in thisSupplement

HISTORY OF B&L: B&L Auto Parts celebrates35 years of local service - Page 3

STEADY GROWTH: Careful growth is why B&Lleads the auto-parts pack - Page 4

THE NEW BUILDING: B&L’s new building is asensational improvement - Page 5

DELIVERIES: 10-truck fleet runs all day long tosupply customers - Page 6

EXPERIENCE: Experience is one of the keys toB&L’s 35-year success - Page 7

THE TEAM: Celebrating a combined 230+years of experience at B&L - Page 7

COMMERCIAL CLIENTS: Garages, dealerships,other installers rely on B&L - Page 8

HIGH-TECH INVENTORY: High-tech systemmakes tracking inventory easy - Page 9

MANY PRODUCTS: Massive inventory makesB&L beyond competitive - Page 10

ONLINE STORE: B&L’s eBay store - Page 11

OTHER SERVICES: More than auto parts:machining & custom paint-mixing - Page 11

R2-D2 to appear at B&L’s Grand Opening

See R2-D2, Page 5

BDN PHOTO BY DAVID M. FITZPATRICKR2-D2 (right), or ‘Artoo Deeto’ to his friends,

beeps and boops during his interview with theBangor Daily News. His assistant, Paul Bussiere,translates. C-3PO was unavailable for comment.


This year is the 35th anniversary of B&LAuto Parts, a local business that has beatenthe odds in the face of stiff competitionfrom national chains to become a local auto-parts powerhouse.

Bob Brooks and Larry Largay worked atEastern Fine Paper when they opened B&LAuto Parts in the location that was brieflyJoe’s Auto Parts, following about 38 years ofoperation as the Black Bros. Garage; Elwell“Rip” Black has started his business there in1934. At its inception,“B&L” stood for either“Bob & Larry” or “Brooks & Largay” (takeyour pick). Brooks stayed full-time at EFPand worked part-time at B&L, while Largayquit EFP to spearhead the new business.

One day, when Brooks and Largay weredriving up the street with a ladder on theircar, they spied a young man driving up thestreet on a lawn tractor, hauling a smalltrailer. It was Gerald Doane, a local boy whoearned money mowing lawns. The pairstopped and asked him if he’d like to do afew odd jobs for them.

Doane was an entrepreneur from a youngage. At 10, he bought his first lawn mowerand made money mowing lawns. By 13, hepurchased a lawn tractor, and by 15, he hadupgraded to a tractor with mower, snow-blower, and tiller attachments. At his peak,Doane had 40 lawn customers, includingLemforder and Eastern Fine Paper. His rela-tionship with Brooks and Largay led to themhiring him at B&L in 1977 to clean the store,pump gas, and sell auto parts.

“He was a South Brewer boy, and we werein South Brewer at the time,” Largay said ofhiring Doane. “He was always a worker.”

He stuck with it through high school and

while he worked his way through college atthe University of Maine at Orono, earning abusiness-administration degree with amajor in accounting and a minor in financein 1982. In 1985, he put that degree to gooduse. That year, Largay sold Doane his 50-percent share in B&L. Doane and Brookspartnered for six years before Brooks sold toDoane in 1991. Since then, they’ve both seenthe business they started grow and flourishunder Doane’s direction.

“He knew the business quite well when hebought Larry out,” Brooks said.

Never one much for loans, Doane hasalways paid them off early in his quest tocompete against others. He went forwardwith a clear goal: to expand the business tobetter serve his customers. In 1997, thegrowth paid off, and Doane relocated to abuilding on South Main Street, next to whatis now Save-A-Lot. The new building afford-ed three times the space, with plenty ofexpansion room.

Or so everyone thought. Just a dozenyears later, B&L had again outgrown itsspace. The building was stuffed full of partsas the company endeavored to have the mostextensive inventory for its customers, andaccess wasn’t easy. Parts were stored up high,jammed behind other parts, and crammedinto four outdoor storage trailers. Produc-tivity was limited, and further growth wasimpossible.

The first plan was to expand the building,and in May 2009 the Brewer Planning Boardendorsed a plan to basically double thebuilding’s size and add a loading dock. Butultimately Doane decided instead to moveto a bigger location. That was the formerADCO building on Outer Hammond Street,which he purchased in September 2009.Once again, the company enjoyed a triplingin building size.

Today, there are about 40 auto-parts deal-ers listed in the Yellow Pages. Many of themare chain stores or dealership stores, andnone of the parts stores around in 1975,when the business opened — or even in1985, when Doane first bought into thebusiness — remain today. They’ve all closedor been bought (and sometimes boughtagain) by corporate chains.

But B&L is still there, still locally owned,and, according to Doane, still outdoing itscompetition when it comes to the size of itsinventory and the number of lines carried.

And B&L is doing it in style in its nice newlocation.

“I think it’s tremendous,” said Largay ofthe new place. He never doubted the hard-working Doane would go places, but “Ididn’t think he would get this good,” he said.“I knew he was good, and he was an awfulgood worker — a very smart, intelligentyoung man. But he’s done super with thatbusiness.”

“He’s not so young anymore, but he’s ahardworking, smart gentleman,” saidBrooks. “He’s done well.”

B&L Auto Parts 35th Anniversary - Bangor Daily News, Thursday | September 16, 2010, 3

B&L Auto Parts celebrates 35 years of local service

BDN PHOTO BY DAVID M. FITZPATRICK

Owner Gerald Doane, right, at the counter with outside salesman Tom Smiley. Doanebegan working at B&L in 1977, two years after it opened. He bought half the business in

1985 and the other half in 1991. He’s since expanded it to become the largest independ-ently owned auto-parts dealer in the area.

Far left: B&L Auto Parts at its original location in South Brewer by Elm Street, c.1985. Left: That building in 1990. It had received a new paint job, the garage bayhad been removed, and the northern end of the building had been converted to aretail store front. Below left: In 1997, B&L relocated to 95 South Main Street inBrewer, next to what is now Save-A-Lot, which represented about a tripling ofspace. (Photos courtesy B&L Auto Parts) Below: The new location, in the old ADCObuilding on Outer Hammond Street in Bangor, represents another tripling of space.(BDN photo by David M. Fitzpatrick)


Expanding a business from a tiny shopwith four employees and no delivery vehi-cles to 25 employees, 10 trucks, and a facili-ty with about 10 times the space as the orig-inal spot wasn’t the result of luck. It’s been aconcerted effort by owner Gerald Doane,who has carefully overseen the business,working diligently to expand his inventoryto become what he calls the largest suchinventory in the region.

Over the years, Doane has expandedwhen he reached plateaus that requiredgrowth, and he’s heavily invested in expand-ing his inventory over the years. “I’m alwaystrying to keep the resources ahead of thesales curve,” Doane said. “Between addingphone lines, adding trucks, adding employ-ees, trying to pay attention that we needmore resources to handle the business, toallow the business to grow — anticipatingrather than reacting.”

His efforts have resulted in an auto-partsstore with an inventory of 25,000 SKUs andover 175,000 items on hand. B&L carrieshundreds of lines; some are just one or a fewproducts, while others are thousands. Doaneis always investigating potential new linesand products, trying to determine what willlikely appeal to his customers. The processcan be hit or miss; sometimes, things hethought would sell don’t, and things hethought wouldn’t sell do.

It’s a continuous learning experience.Occasionally, he’ll think he’ll sell loads of anitem, but it doesn’t move; or, he thinks aproduct won’t sell, but suddenly everyonewants it. “Sometimes you just don’t guess itright,” he said. “We’ve had items we’ve put intoo soon and they wouldn’t sell; then wemight send it back, and a couple years laterwe’ll start getting demand for it.”

Managing his business for 25 years hasbeen something like a chess game, wherehe’s always looking ahead and knowingwhen to make the right moves.

“We’re just trying to do the best we can to

keep growing and keep the customershappy,” Doane said. Along the way, he worksto keep his employees happy, and put themin positions where they’ll excel and grow. Atthe same time, he tries to instill a ‘sense ofurgency’ that everyone’s actions are impor-

tant and vital to the survival as well as pros-perity of the business.

“If they’re not happy, they’re not going tobe serving the customers well, and the cus-tomers are going to know they’re nothappy,” said Doane. “It’s all one big loop.”


Careful growth is why B&L leads the auto-parts pack

Above: B&L’s big new warehouse. The company stocks 25,000 SKUs and over 175,000individual items (BDN photo by David M. Fitzpatrick). Below: Part of B&L’s big retail area.

One section of the parts counter is to the right. In the background is the paint-mixingshack (photo courtesy of B&L Auto Parts).


B&L Auto Parts has relocated to the formerADCO building on Outer Hammond Street inBangor. At 27,000 square feet, the new location isabout triple the size of the previous location inBrewer, with a front retail space about twice thesize. The entire old building in Brewer could justabout fit inside the warehouse of this place, withroom to spare.

Customers are met with a slick-looking red-and-black motif with an industrial feel. “I wantedthis ‘open warehouse’ look,” said owner GeraldDoane. “We thought this would look nice. It was-n’t like I had an architect design it; we just kind ofenvisioned what it might look like, and it cameout pretty much the way I was hoping it wouldcome out.”

The new building has increased productivi-ty in many ways. There’s more room for inven-tory, plus three bays for supply trucks.Employees get around faster, most of the stockis accessible without ladders, and the delivery

staging area is roomy and streamlined. There’splenty of expansion room, with racks that cango higher for palletized overstock and a mez-zanine level in part of the warehouse. Andthere’s ample land to expand the building later,if needed.

Ron Arsenault is the merchandiser who stocksthe retail store and the warehouse, and he spendshis day constantly on the move. He wheels cartsback and forth, and he rarely moves at anythingslower than a jog. So what does he think of thenew place?

“I think I need roller skates,” he said.“We thought Segways would work real well,”

said General Manager Mike Carter. “Or the littlecarts they have in the grocery stores.”

The entire staff came over in the beginning tolook at the new place, and everyone’s ideas wereconsidered. “We all came over here before theystarted putting stuff in,” said Bruce Carle, thedeliveries dispatcher. “Everyone looked aroundand put in our two cents worth if anyone had anyideas. Then they did a big layout on what movesfast, what moves slower, where we’d put it, and sether up, and away we went. It’s really amazing.”


B&L’s new building is a sensational improvement

BDN PHOTO BY DAVID M. FITZPATRICKTom Comstock (right) directs a customer at the parts counter in the new show-room. Bruce Carle (center) and Larry Fowle (back) work other stations. The new

building has given more room for everything: the long parts counter with many sta-tions, the big showroom, the roomy deliveries area, and the sprawling warehouse.

of Artoo during the building process.But it will also be fun just to get Artoo

out in public. “This is an opportunity,first of all, for the guys at B&L to seehim, and another opportunity of courseto draw people in for the Manna event,and an opportunity for all those peoplewho have followed him or read abouthim or seen him on TV to meet him inperson.”

Artoo is pleased to help draw peoplein for this important fundraiser. “Beep-DEEP-dooble,” he said of the event.“Wheedle-dee-BEEP-deep doop.”

R2-D2Continued from Page 2

BDN PHOTO BY DAVID M. FITZPATRICKR2-D2 is helping to celebrate B&L’s 35th

anniversary and new location, and helping toraise money and food for Manna Ministries.

Celebrating a Combined 230+ Years of Experience at B&L Auto Parts



Besides an ardent commitmentto customer service and carrying amassive inventory, the major key toB&L’s success has been its commit-ment to deliveries to garages, deal-erships, fleets, and other partsinstallers.

B&L has a 10-truck fleet, andfrom the time the first driver hitsthe road by 7 a.m., the trucks rarelystop running. The drivers deliverall around Greater Bangor and welloutside it, making regular trips sev-eral times a day to Bucksport,Ellsworth, Old Town, and Belfast.

“There’s no other store that has10 trucks,” owner Gerald Doanesaid.

B&L also has two full-time sales-men who hit the road Mondaythrough Friday to call on theirinstallers, filling stock orders and

taking care of any issues.Bruce Carle, the deliveries dis-

patcher, said B&L’s GPS-trackedfleet makes keeping customersinformed a cinch. “If I’ve got a cus-tomer who’s been waiting 15 or 20minutes for a delivery calls up andsays, ‘Where’s my part?’ I look righthere and I can zoom right in andbring it right up and say ‘He’s turn-ing right into your driveway,’” saidCarle.

The streamlined delivery processbegins when a counter personenters an order into the computer,or when a remote customer placesan order via the Internet. Aninvoice spits out of a printer in thedeliveries area and Carle, the ware-house crew, and even the driverspull the order and stack it on asetup table. The table features localand out-of-town areas, with anASAP section for rush deliveries.The next driver to return from adelivery grabs the next stack for a

certain area and heads back on theroad.

For out-of-town deliveries, B&Lhas regular schedules, but even thatchanges on the fly.“We usually haveset times that try to go — likeBelfast; we go 8, 10, 12, and 2, giveor take a half-hour,” said Carle.“But if someone calls up at… 3o’clock and we’ve already gone, andshe says ‘Look, I’m in a bind, I needthis,’ I ship another truck.”

The system needs to move likethe proverbial well-oiled machineto handle 150 to 200 deliveriesevery day across such a large geo-graphical area. The smooth opera-tion is the result of 25 years of per-fection, dating to a time when therewas no truck fleet and Doane usedhis own personal vehicle for localdeliveries.

A lot has changed, and the newbuilding has resulted in a lot more.At the old location, delivery orderswere crammed on a single small

table and piled against the wall, anddrivers regularly had to interruptthe busy counter workers for deliv-ery information. The new setupmeans faster order pulling, morestaging space, and no need to con-sult the counter workers.

There’s also a “back-burner”

shelf for those parts garages don’tneed today, but are there as a“whenever you’re coming this way”delivery. There’s also a walk-in-cus-tomer rack; if you call and ask forsomething to be set aside, it goesthere, properly invoiced, so it’swaiting for you.


Many businesses trumpet that experiencesets them apart from their competition.Often that’s just lip service, but not at B&LAuto Parts. B&L has 25 employees, with fivehired in the past year for the expansion. Ofthe other 20, nine have been there for morethan 10 years.

Outside Salesman Gerald Wescott has beenthere nearly 25 years. He personally calls onabout 130 accounts a month to take care ofany issues and ensure those accounts are setwith regular stock items. When he startedwith B&L, there were no outside salesmen.

“We didn’t even have a delivery truck,”Wescott said.“We used the boss’ truck; one ofus counter guys would take the delivery.”

Counterman Tom Comstock has beenwith B&L over 17 years, and was usually theguy at the front corner of the counter whenyou walked into the old Brewer location. He’sstill usually the first guy you’ll see at the newplace, but aside from that, everything aboutthe new place is different from the old one.

“I love it — it’s like having a new job,”Comstock said. “It’s totally different. It’sunbelievable, the room that we have. We canhouse so many more parts. We’re not elbow

to elbow anymore.”Outside Salesman Tom Smiley has been

with B&L for seven years, but he’s been in theparts business in the Bangor area since 1972,including managing a store and working inoutside sales. Smiley knew he wanted to workfor another local owner, and found a perfectposition with B&L.

“I’ve always enjoyed working for an inde-pendent owner such as Gerald,” Smiley said.“Working for an independent person waswhat I felt most comfortable with.”

Smiley has seen many changes in theindustry in 38 years. In the old days, therewere so few parts that when someone askedfor something, you didn’t have to look itup.Now, with vast computerized databases, it’sboth an art and a science. Even still, some-times you just have to order parts — becausehow many places have all the parts for a 1973Gremlin anyway?

“I always tell people that one thing aboutB&L is we’ve got so much experience, andreally go that extra mile and dig for thathard-to-find part, which a lot of people real-ly appreciate for that ‘73 Gremlin,” he said.“They come in here, and we don’t just rollour eyes; we go dig and find that part forthem. We try as hard as we can.”

General Manager Mike Carter has been atB&L longer than anyone — even longer than

owner Gerald Doane, by six months — sohe’s seen more changes there than anyone.

“It’s been an experience,” he said. “It’s niceto see the place grow. Not too many inde-pendently owned places can grow like B&Lhas against the competition that we’ve had inthe area. He’s the only independent partsstore that has been able to survive.”

Carter said the longevity of employeesspeaks to the quality of the entire operation.“We don’t have much turnover,” he said.“Our people stay, as you’ve seen from theyears of experience. I think that’s a goodthing to have a company with a consistencyof employees without changing faces everymonth or two months or every year.”

B&L Auto Parts 35th Anniversary - Bangor Daily News | Thursday | September 16, 2010, 7

10-truck fleet runs all day long to supply customersNot just in Greater Bangor, but to Old Town, Ellsworth, Belfast, and more

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Here’s the current roster of 25employees at B&L. Together,they’ve logged over 230 years ofemployment at B&L, but manyemployees brought years of addi-tional experience to B&L whenthey joined the team. For exam-ple, Tom Smiley (6.8 years) hasbeen in the auto-parts businessin the Bangor area for 38 years.That’s the level of skill and com-mitment at B&L Auto Parts.

Experience is one of the keys to B&L 35-year success

BDN PHOTOS BY DAVID M. FITZPATRICKOutside Salesman Gerald Wescott (left) has been with B&L for 25 years. General Manager

Mike Carter (right) has been there 33 years, longer than owner Gerald Doane by six months.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF B&L AUTO PARTS



B&L has made a substantialimpact on many garages andinstallers, in the Greater Bangorarea and outside of it.

Bob Muecke, owner of BangorAuto and Truck Center in Her-mon, started his business a littleover five years ago, and soon beganusing B&L. As his business hasgrown, so has his usage of B&L.

“They’ve done a heck of a jobkeeping up with our growth here,”Muecke said. “They’re here, Iwould say, on average, probably 20times a day.”

“And sometimes more,” saidService Writer Kelly Gendreau.

Muecke said the importance ofB&L to his business can’t beunderstated. “It’s crucial,” he said.

“It holds up the whole shop whenone part’s missing. And whenwe’re in a hurry, they make ithappen.”

Muecke said B&L’s customerservice is second to none, and thatincludes everyone — from thedrivers to the counter people andall the way up to the owner.“Everyone is just first-rate,” hesaid. “Customer service is what it’sabout, and they’ve got it down.”

Muecke respects the successstory of a company that started inan old garage and is now a majorparts dealer in the area. “I think itspeaks volumes to the owner’s ini-tiative to do it right the first time,”he said. “He’s obviously got theright mindset to make it happen,and that’s probably the primaryreason for their growth — alongwith the people he’s found to staffthe operation. Between the two,

he’s got a good combina-tion.”

Bangor Auto andTruck Center is a prettybig operation, but B&Lserves anyone and every-one who needs parts fortheir businesses. Onesmall garage, Rideout’sAutomotive in Brewer,has been in business for10 years, and ownerDwayne Rideout has usedB&L all that time.

“It’s good organizationfor a small business,”Rideout said.“They’re bigin the area. They’re not achain. They do well.”

And they do better for him thantwo national chains with local out-lets, Rideout said.

“If they don’t have it and no oneelse has it, and they say they can

have it in the morning —they have it first thing in themorning,” Rideout said. “If Icall [one of those two chainstores], they say ‘Yup, I canhave it for you tomorrow’ —I don’t know what time I’llhave it.”

But when B&L says“tomorrow,” Rideout knowsit will be at B&L by 7 a.m.the next day and deliveredbefore 8 to his business.With just two lifts in hisgarage, “I ain’t got time towait around til one o’clockin the afternoon for some-

body to show up,” he said. “If I callthem by one o’clock, I can have itby eight o’clock the next morning.That’s sweet.”

When it comes to reliability inparts, Bill Varney knows howimportant it is. Varney owns mul-tiple car dealerships and relies onB&L on a daily basis.

“They’ve been very easy andvery accommodating to do busi-ness with, and their prices havebeen very good,” Varney said. “It’snice doing business with a localbusiness.”

Varney said his company beganusing B&L when his companywent out of the auto-parts busi-ness in 2000. “The service andprices have been very good,” hesaid. “We do use them wheneverwe can.”

Eric Sperry in the parts depart-ment at Varney GMC-Isuzu deal-ership says B&L is at the dealershipat least 10 times a day, and some-times as often as 20. B&L’s servicehas been excellent, and that’s criti-cal when he has a car on a lift andneeds a part. Sperry uses Internetordering, so all he does is log inand order a part.

“We submit online, and 15 or 20minutes later, the part comesthrough the front door,” Sperrysaid.

Sperry knows parts. He’s been atthe Varney dealership for 10 years,but before that worked Varney’sparts store for 10 years. Fromeither side, he knows what it takesto run a quality parts service.

“They do an awesome job,” hesaid of B&L.

Garages, dealerships, other installers rely on B&L

Left: B&L’s Bob Albert hands off a delivery to Service Writer Kelly Gendreau at Bangor Auto & Truck Cen-ter in Hermon. BATC receives an average of 20 deliveries a day from B&L Auto Parts, and sometimesmore (BDN photo by David M. Fitzpatrick). Above: B&L delivery driver Nelson Norwood in BATC’s bay,bringing in yet another delivery (BDN photo by Debra Bell).


High-tech inventory control makes B&L’sjob easier, saves customers money, andensures customers will find what they need.

The process begins when supply trucksarrive. Using a handheld laser scanner thatlooks something like an oversized phaserfrom “Star Trek,” Receiver Rob Carpenterquickly scans bar codes on every new itemthat enters the building.

“It was all by hand before: see a numberand check it off a list,” he recalled. “Now youscan it in with the gun. It is a lot faster andthe accuracy is really there. We’ve constantlygot deliveries coming in, and being able todo it that fast cuts down my time.”

Gary Brown, a 12-year B&L veteran, isresponsible for inventory control. In the olddays, that meant counting every item in thebuilding, writing the counts down, andadjusting the numbers in the computer.Now, he can update inventory just by log-ging products with a handheld scanners.

Brown inventories every day, and thehigh-tech system means he’s done faster, thecounts are more accurate, and customers arehappier. “If you don’t keep the correct

count, it may not be available for the cus-tomer,” he said. For example, if you tell acustomer on the phone your computershows you have three, and he drives overonly to find you have none, he’s likely to bedispleased.

Making new labels to replace missingshelf tags or for price changes is also easier.In the old days, it meant going back to thecomputer. Now, it’s as easy as scanning a barcode and spitting out a label from a mini-printer attached to the handheld scanner.

At the old store, parts were stacked every-where, crammed behind each other, piledhigh on racks, and jammed in outside stor-age trailers. Brown had to wade in with aflashlight to count everything, and employ-ees had to unload trucks outside with aforklift.

Now, there’s a lot more space, with wideaisles in the warehouse to accommodateforklifts and with racks designed for stor-ing pallets. Inventory is much smoother.And instead of no truck bays, there arethree. Now, “We don’t have to go outsideand get wet when it rains — or snows,”Carpenter said.

Carpenter has found himself questioninghow they possibly did it in the old store,with barely enough room to move, invento-

ry crammed in behind other inven-tory, products stacked to the ceil-ing, and rolling ladders needed toget stuff down from up top. Com-pared to all that, the new location isa dramatic improvement.

“Here, it’s really amazing,” Car-penter said.


High-tech system makes tracking inventory easyAccurate counts keep products available for customers, keeps customers happy

BDN PHOTOS BYDAVID M. FITZPATRICK

At left, Robert Carpenter scansnewly received inventory with ahandheld laser scanner; aboveright, Gary Brown uses a similardevice to check inventory. The gunsallows B&L to quickly check in newinventory, perform fast inventorycounts, and even print shelf tagswith an attached mini-printer. Theguns works wirelessly, directly con-necting with a computerized inven-tory system, automatically updatingthe inventory to add new productsor adjust inventory counts. Nothinghas to be done manually andensures fast, efficient counts andan accurate inventory. If customerscall to see if an item is in stock,the system ensures the counts willmost likely be right, resulting inhappy customers who return toB&L, which is the largest independ-ently owned auto-parts store in thearea.



It takes great customer service and a highlevel of commitment to expand a businessthat began in a small garage in 1975 to theindependently owned auto-parts giant it istoday. But along with that, it needs a lot ofproduct on-hand — and that’s what ownerGerald Doane has worked hard towards eversince he bought B&L Auto Parts in 1985.

For starters, B&L stocks over 25,000 dif-ferent products and over 175,000 individualitems, so customers are less likely to wait forparts. But even B&L can’t stock everything,and relies on distributors. One warehouse inFairfield ensures that many ordered itemsarrive overnight; the driver has a key, sonext-day parts are waiting when the B&Lcrew opens the doors at 6 a.m. Other ware-houses around the Northeast can get partsthere overnight or within a couple of days.B&L uses perhaps 100 other suppliers,which owner Gerald Doane says is far morethan most parts stores.

The scope is truly sprawling, and mostpeople likely don’t realize just how involvedthe parts business is — and particularly to

what lengths B&L goes as it strives to be themost complete and comprehensive partsdealer in the region.

“That’s just what we have to do to grow,”said Doane. “We’ve got to try to do it betterthan the other guy. Part of the move to thenew building is to expand our coverage tomeet the customer’s needs more.”

Most of B&L’s name-brand products areshipped directly from the manufacturer,which lowers costs by cutting out the mid-dleman. Those savings are transferred to thecustomer, whether they’re professionalinstallers or do-it-your-selfers.

Doane says B&L’s inventory is far largerthan an average parts store.“I’ve put in moreinventory than most would think youshould have,” he said. “But I’ve always foundI’m not worried if a few items don’t sell. I’mmore worried that the coverage is there.”

Having been in charge of purchasing atB&L for a decade, Mike Hayes knows first-hand what the product growth has been like.“I’ve seen a lot of changes in 10 years,” hesaid. “This new building is great. A lot moreroom, a lot more visibility for our customersto come in and look around, more chancesfor us to take care of the customer.”

Building up the inventory isn’t shooting

blind, but rather a calculated, ongoing studyof trends, reviewing ranking reports fromsuppliers to see what’s moving in New Eng-land, and reviewing lost-sales reports fromthe counter personnel to find out what cus-tomers wanted that B&L didn’t have.

It can all be something of a juggling gamefor Doane and Hayes. They work on thevendor lines and even scour catalogs lookingfor new items, and together they try to make

the best decisions on what to stock.“Gerald is very business-oriented,” Hayes

said. “We all try to work together in thisbusiness because we’re trying to take care ofthe customer and make it all grow.”

All in all, the secret has been continuallyadding more parts and new services.

“It’s just been one customer at a time andone part at a time, basically, for 25 years,”Doane said.

Massive inventory makes B&L beyond competitive

Ron Arsenault wheels stock carts through towering racks of exhausts. B&L stocks 25,000different SKUs and over 175,000 individual items. (BDN photo by David M. Fitzpatrick)

B&L is more than just auto parts.The store has a machine shop, wherethe skilled staff grinds flywheels, turnsrotors, makes hydraulic hoses, cutsexhaust piping, and more.

B&L also mixes paint, which is quitean exact science. Painters often knowwhat color they’re looking for, but theymay call up with just a make, model,year, and general color. Then it’s up toSean “Larry” Fowle and the rest of theB&L staff to make sure they mix thepaint properly. That’s tougher than it

sounds, since different manufacturersoften use the same paint codes,although their colors aren’t necessarilythe same. “You really have to pay atten-tion to which manufacturer you’reusing,” Fowle said.

Paint codes change for certain yearranges even within a manufacturer, andthere are alternate colors for certaincolor codes — perhaps as many as sixor seven alternates. Same color, differ-ent shade.

Once Fowle has the right color fig-

ured out, it comes down to its formula.He mixes various colors together, deal-ing in grams and even tenths of grams,to produce the exact color needed.

“You can change that formula byadding or subtracting a couple grams ofone color in order to get that perfectshade,” Fowle said.

Even if a painter knows exactly whathe needs, B&L double-checks every-thing and asks questions to make surethey’re on the same page. Once theright amounts are combined, the can

goes onto the paint mixer forseveral minutes. Then the can islabeled, and the custom colorsgo out for delivery.

B&L uses top-quality Sher-win-Williams paints. And B&Lis in the process of adding“spray bombs” — basically,custom-mixed paints put into aspray can. Spray bombs areideal for someone doing asmall job, such as touching up alittle area, so they’ll be great forthe do-it-yourselfer.

——DDaavviidd MM.. FFiittzzppaattrriicckkBBDDNN SSppeecciiaall SSeeccttiioonnss

Top: Sean “Larry” Fowle adds a color to his custom-mixed paint order. Above: Ron Arsenaultturns a rotor on the machine shop’s lathe. (BDN photos by David M. Fitzpatrick)

More than just auto parts at B&L: machining and custom paint-mixing


1985

Four employees

One phone line with tworotary-dial phones

Paper catalogues

Handwritten receiving and inven-torying, and manual reordering

to replenish inventory

One delivery vehicle

No outside salesmen

Local presence inGreater Bangor area only

No computers, with handwritteninvoices

2010

28 employees

11 phone lines; 15 telephones; employeescarry wireless handsets

Computer purchasing, receiving, cataloguing

UPC bar code hand-scanning ofinventory with automated reordering

of many inventory items

10 delivery trucks, all GPS-trackable

Two full time road salespeople

Deliveries to Old Town, Ellsworth, Belfast, andmore; Internet sales, shipping product to

every state and around the world

Computer sales with bar codes; fourterminals; credit-card modem; 14 PCs andsix printers, all connected to the Internet

A LOT HAS CHANGED SINCE 1985...It’s not just the addition of that fancy electronic sign out in front of the

new store at 1292 Hammond Street; things are different in many ways thanthey were when Gerald Doane bought B&L Auto Parts 25 years ago. For

starters, annual sales have increased by 1,454 percent. And B&L now stocksover 25,000 different products right in the building, so customers are more

likely to find what they’re looking for without waiting for an order.

Lorena Giffard is the office manager, but the term“office manager” isn’t quite what it used to be.

As she has for seven years, Giffard handles theday-to-day stuff an office manager generally takescare of, from accounts payables and receivables,setting up new customers, running credit checks,collecting money, and doing cash-ups. But in addition to those duties, shealso maintains the B&L online eBay store, where she posts items for auction,talks with potential buyers, and ships products to auction winners.

The eBay experiment started when General Manager Mike Carter noticed he’dnever seen emergency lights on eBay or Craigslist, so the B&L team decided toinvestigate the possibility of selling some merchandise online.

“We started playing around with it,” Giffard said. “You have to be so particularin your wording in the title. We tried several different ways, and then we kind ofjust nailed it one time and took off with it.”

B&L pinned down a few lines that seemed to be its niche on eBay, and hasfound success with such things as strobelights, warning lights, tire chains, andtrack bars. The appeal is not only the price, but finding items people can’t get atmany auto parts stores. Even people in Maine appreciate not having to hunt fromstore to store, and that they can receive the goods without having to leave theirhomes.

For those of you familiar with eBay, as of this writing B&L has a feedback rat-ing of 847, with 100 percent positive. For those of you unfamiliar with eBay, that’sa pretty rare achievement; it means every sale has resulted in a happy customer.Visit B&L’s eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/Big-n-Low-Auto-Parts

—David M. Fitzpatrick, BDN Special Sections

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