Having started his first company at age 16, Michael Shellhart moved up through the business world to become president of the NextGEN Liquidation Group, which has operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America.
Q: What types of services do you offer?
A: At NextGEN Liquidation Group we offer a variety of services all surrounding the liquidation of automotive aftermarket parts. As a company we are involved mostly with the selling of stocklifts (buybacks), changeover and excess merchandise for various aftermarket manufactures, but also we offer consulting and going out of business sales and liquidations as well.
The automotive aftermarket was in need of a full-service liquidation company that can be used as a tool to solve inventory issues for everyone in the automotive industry. We can help you analyze your inventory to help you weed out slow-moving merchandise as well as consult and train sales teams to move your own slow-moving inventory.
It is an unfortunate circumstance, but people do go out of business – and we can help them get a fair price that allows them to pay off creditors and get higher gross sales.
Q: How common is it for aftermarket distributors, retailers and installers to purchase liquidated products?
A: One of the unique things about NextGEN Liquidation Group is that we sell into more than just the automotive aftermarket. We have developed and built relationships with customers in many different industries to help our clients move their unwanted inventory. For example, we sell to chains of liquidation stores, manufactures in other industries and hobby stores, just to name a few.
As far as the automotive aftermarket goes, we try to educate our customers on how they can increase profits by purchasing select merchandise to run sales and specials. We have sold to mass merchandisers, chain stores and independent jobbers as well as warehouse distributors.
Q: You both purchase and sell liquidated products, correct? How does the process work in connecting seller to buyer and buyer to seller?
A: Yes, we do both; buy and sell. We mainly work with manufactures to help them sell their excess, stocklifts, package changes and returns. But often we are contacted by jobbers and WDs to help them cut down on their unwanted inventory as well. We have a few customizable options that each of our clients can choose from to best suit their individual needs and or expectations.
Q: What markets do you serve?
A: We have customers is in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America. After three generations in the automotive aftermarket we have developed some amazing relationships with clients and customers around the globe, which helps us to serve our clients.
Q: How does the shipping work? What methods do you use?
A: We ship in a verity of ways depending on what makes the most sense for both parties involved. Most of our shipments end-up going LTL (less-than-truckload) via common carriers, but smaller shipments are sent FedEx and UPS while larger shipments are sent by the trailer load. We have also used rail as well as ships to send different loads.
Q: Which aftermarket segments do you serve?
A: We sell auto parts or hard parts such as brakes, filters, ignition, gaskets and axles and many others. We also sell auto accessories like bug shields, chrome parts, high performance and off-road. We can also help with heavy duty, tools, equipment, chemicals and other auto-related items.
Q: What are some of the sources of the products that you liquidate?
A: Everyone is a source for unwanted inventory really. Most companies have overstock and/or excess that they should liquidate. This inventory can be a “silent killer,” and they can be a significant financial burden.
Inventory that is not being actively sold is creating a drain on your cash flow and ultimately a negative impact on your company’s bottom line. Think about it for a moment, your biggest expenses in a business are building and manpower.
Operational and maintenance costs in the automotive aftermarket are incurred daily. When your warehouse or store is full of excess or slow-moving inventory what will you do when you run out of space? Building space is a big expense for your company, and to build or rent more warehouse space to accommodate your inventory isn’t a good idea. Your slow-moving inventory is taking up space and eating up money that could be used on inventory that could be making you money.
How many hours are your company’s employees spending on your excess inventory? Include inventory and warehouse managers, stock keepers, material handlers, cycle counters, planners and controllers. How many man-hours are spent looking at the issue, going to meetings about it and trying to figure out the most profitable way to deal with this inventory?
What sells in one area of the country as “a mover” may not sell well elsewhere. We try to help the automotive aftermarket see past the “pop codes” (point of purchase data) and get the merchandise that is really making them money.
Q: Can a distributor/jobber benefit by purchasing liquidated products?
A: Yes they can. Our expert sales team can help them keep the competitive edge by finding them the right parts at the right price. We normally sell our auto parts and auto accessories at discounts from 25 percent off to 75 percent off.
If a part is normally purchased for $1 and they can buy some of those parts from us at 50 cents, then we have reduced their overall cost on that part to 75 cents. That means when they sell those parts they are making 25 percent more profit overall.
Purchasing excess and liquidation merchandise is also a great way to get width into your line. It is hard to always have the right part when it is needed, and by purchasing parts at a discount you can carry more part numbers than if you had to pay full price. This actually helps the manufacturers because they will then reorder that part from them once it is sold.
Q: What are the pluses of liquidated products for retailers?
A: I feel that retailers have the most to gain from purchasing liquidation Inventory. It enables them to be competitive with the big chains. Not everyone can have the same buying power as the big chains, so we help to even the playing field.
Q: Can installers also gain a competitive advantage by purchasing liquidated products?
A: Yes. Many of our liquidations are sold as “pick & choose.” We try to keep our minimum as low as possible so that they too can benefit from liquidation merchandise. We also help them with equipment and tools.
Q: How long have you been in business, and what is the history of your company?
A: For three generations the Shellhart family has pioneered the liquidation side of the automotive aftermarket and helped hundreds of automotive manufactures, auto parts companies, accessory brands, high performance companies, off-road shops, tool factories, warehouse distributors, retail chains and independent jobbers with their unwanted, excess, surplus, seconds, changeover auto parts, auto accessories, heavy duty, tools and auto-related items.
NextGEN has taken all of the combined 75 years of automotive aftermarket experience and created a company that is truly unique. We have been a part of all the stages of the automotive supply chain from manufacturing to distribution, and from retail to installation.
Historically liquidation, excess, changeovers, stocklifts, package changes and distress sales are complex and can bring a low amount of gross sales if not handled correctly. But these are a routine occurrence for NextGEN Liquidation Group, and we have the knowledge to help you navigate the process. We specialize in inventory liquidations and work as a partner to customize a stocklift distribution plan that will fit any aftermarket automotive parts and accessory manufacturer.
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