Good, old fashioned service

Dogged research and success in finding motor components is winning Wanganui's Mike Palmer and David Newman ever-larger slices of business.

Both men have been in parts and engineering for years, and are heavily involved in many forms of motorsport.

They like a good problem - something a bit curly - to get their teeth into.

One such moment was when a vintage car rolled into town for the Vintage Car Club rally in January. It had dropped a wheel bearing in Taumarunui, got a second-hand one at Horopito and then limped into town.

When he knew what was wanted, Mr Palmer was able to source it overnight.

"It's like anything you go to buy. All you want is some good old-fashioned service. People want to know that the person they're talking to is interested in their problem."

He and Mr Newman work for Bearing Wholesale Ltd, an Auckland company started in 1992 by Dennis Barrowman.

Their Wanganui shop is the only other Bearing Wholesale outlet in New Zealand and has been going for 13 years. For the past six years, it's been in a brightly painted building on the corner of Dublin and Bell streets.

The company is a direct importer and retailer of bearings, seals and engineering supplies. One of its specialties is the high-performance fuel fittings used by race cars and jetsprint boats.

"We haven't made much noise about that, but we've sold plenty already," Mr Palmer said.

The business also supplies an Australian oil made for South Pacific conditions.

It recently bought in so many containers of oil that they wouldn't all fit in the building and are now stored in a shipping container outside.

The two pick up a new distributorship whenever they find a new product that customers will want.

Mr Palmer said they did make sales to people who came into the store - but 60 per cent of their business was done by telephone and email. They use an internet site to research the availability of parts and source them from as faraway as Singapore and the United States.

Courier arrangements mean a part can arrive from Melbourne overnight.

Mr Palmer said the economic recession suited their business because, in tough times, people were inclined to buy in parts and overhaul expensive machines rather than replace them.