Corvette central
Platinum Supporting Vendor
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,309
Likes: 30
From: Mechanicsville VA
Tony Genry, the person Legendary named General Manager of Central (and Paragon before it's closure) use to monitor posts on the Forum involving Central and would respond, but I haven't seen any posts by him on here in quite a while.
We don't have as many as we use to, and the numbers of small, independently owned vendors is getting smaller all the time. Zip is already part of Legendary, though from what I understand the previous owner (whose name escapes me right now) is still there managing things and running it as it had been in the past. That may change in the future. I know that Steve, one of the former owners of Paragon had to stay on for 18 months after the sale, and the situation may be the same at Zip?
Top Flight (AKA Corvette America) has been through two or three different ownership groups and is currently owned by CID Capital, a Midwest based private equity firm. There have been some changes made to Top Flight in the last few years, not all of them seeming to be the best for us as customers.
I understand that Eckler's was just on the verge of bankruptcy before being acquire by Turn5 in 2022. Turn5 is basically an automotive parts internet company based in PA. They have a warehouse in Kansas, but a big part of their business seems to be having things drop shipped by other companies, instead of maintaining their own inventory. Eckler's customer service had declined noticeably in the year or two proceeding their being acquired, but things don't seem to be much different under the new owners.
There are still independent Corvette vendors out there but they are becoming fewer all the time. As bigger corporations acquire the smaller vendors, they often change their discounts and wholesale programs, making it tougher for the independent vendors to buy parts and compete.
We don't have as many as we use to, and the numbers of small, independently owned vendors is getting smaller all the time. Zip is already part of Legendary, though from what I understand the previous owner (whose name escapes me right now) is still there managing things and running it as it had been in the past. That may change in the future. I know that Steve, one of the former owners of Paragon had to stay on for 18 months after the sale, and the situation may be the same at Zip?
Top Flight (AKA Corvette America) has been through two or three different ownership groups and is currently owned by CID Capital, a Midwest based private equity firm. There have been some changes made to Top Flight in the last few years, not all of them seeming to be the best for us as customers.
I understand that Eckler's was just on the verge of bankruptcy before being acquire by Turn5 in 2022. Turn5 is basically an automotive parts internet company based in PA. They have a warehouse in Kansas, but a big part of their business seems to be having things drop shipped by other companies, instead of maintaining their own inventory. Eckler's customer service had declined noticeably in the year or two proceeding their being acquired, but things don't seem to be much different under the new owners.
There are still independent Corvette vendors out there but they are becoming fewer all the time. As bigger corporations acquire the smaller vendors, they often change their discounts and wholesale programs, making it tougher for the independent vendors to buy parts and compete.
Platinum Supporting Vendor
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,309
Likes: 30
From: Mechanicsville VA
Whats up with corvette central?? This has happened twice in month and half..i ordered parts a week ago today..still no parts,,no notifaction,nothing...but they got my money!! They have my email and credit card number..then they come out couple days later with a 10 percent discount..i think its BS!!
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: Richmond Virginia
Corvette Central issues
I have tried to place a web order for the last 4 days and it is still unable to process the order ! They sent an apology email and offered free shipping, so I went through the entire process again to no avail. I tried to call but it seems the sales folks are overwhelmed by the volume, which makes sense because of the website issues. Very disappointing. On the bright side, I live close to ZIP, and the folks there have always been very helpful.
