My business peaks and drops seasonally. One of the quirks is how slow it is right when school is out and the 2 weeks before school starts back up. Any week with a holiday is a terrible. Anything up to April 15 could only be called sluggish. Basically, I work half a year cut up into small chunks. Right now, I'm standing down for 2 weeks, which is not too usual for this particular period. That's why I have time to build cars.

I've been selling and installing doors and windows for 18 years and I had this figured out after the 3rd year. Too bad I no longer ski, because I could miss January alltogther and it wouldn't make a lick of difference. Shows to go ya how the money flows; folks need the efficiency of new windows in the winter more than any other time.

One other tibit: 90% of my original inquiries are from the lady of the house. So none of this may pertain to parts sales. How busy is Pelican around Superbowl weekend?

BTW, this is not a clever solicitation for business. I have what I need and I only work a small territory like a real estate agent. I've got it locked.

Wayne,

Everyone is waiting for their huge, loyal customer discounts ;)

Well I was gonna order some stuff but I bought a Carrera GT and it ate into my petty cash. hee hee

It's just the ups and downs of the business side of things right now, I'm sure. Uncertainty is in the air for a lot of folks. The economy could be better and the unemployment rate is high.. but rest assured it WILL get better.

Before we know it, we'll all be tackling something new on our p-cars and gleefully bragging about it!

Come to Miwaukee for the 100th HD bash and to to Road America for PCA driving event Labor Day weekend.

A couple years ago the company I worked for was a logistics company that did a lot of e-commerce and catalog related IT and fufillment work.

One of the interesting things about that job was that I was the IT Projects manager for the company which gave me access to all of the sales information for over 25 different companies selling everything from medical equipment to swimwear.

I'm a statistics nut so I used to love analyzing and graphing the traffic and sales data for all these different companies as a means of building new predictive models for shopping paterns and other important marketing data.

Over 5 years I learned that nearly every type of business has 3 major slumps to deal with.

When school get out
When school starts
From a week or two before christmas to about the first or second week of january

As a recent lay off who has had a hard time finding work and knowing a lot of other engineers and IT people in the same position I imagine that the current economy is only agravating the above trends.

Well Wayne, sorry to see you guys are taking such a big hit from current circumstances.

Too bad that I would never relocate to south california. If I could I would be pretty interested in filling that open spot you need filled since I could also bring you some good data analyzing skills to help you maximise your customer base and marketing plans in addition to being an IT guy and a porsche and BMW tech.

I realize that the distribution business is different than manufacturing, but we used to look at rolling 13 week periods compared to the previous year. We felt that would smooth out peaks and valleys for a better look.

But I also think it is summer and people are just doing different things.

350HP930 - have you found a job yet? I may be able to help - being a fellow Porsche guy. anyway pm me ---

I'm in the employment bidness - stop and start economy - the unemployment rate went down - but mainly statistical with less people looking for work (more discouraged)

We have seen ebs and flows this year (and usually we are the first to see a recovery) - just the state of the union - still alot of uncertainty out there - but ALWAYS slow the two weeks before school starts back up.

I keep waiting for the really cool 10% off coupon in my e-mail. Being cheap and loving bargains that always makes me spend :)

Pat

Thanks for the offer Jeremy. You have a PM. :D

Don't worry Wayne. My engine rebuild is ready for the machine shop phase. That means it's about time to drop at least two big ones (no, not that Franklin guy) at my friendly Pelican Parts e-store to get things ready for assembly during my week off of work at the end of August.

well, Dave at TRE is getting my money right now...gotta get mechanical stuff sorted since I don't have the time or facilities to do all them myself. PP is more for "accessory stuff" I can do with minimal tools and brains (seals, steering wheel, electrical stuff, trim, etc).

Do you have a "typical customer"? I suspect not, but I'll bet you have maybe 3-5 typical groups of customers. Are you seeing particular demographics drop off? How about particular parts? I need to see some data man...just an overall drop month over month is difficult to use for drawing conclusions...

worked on my car all spring. Waiting 'till after the leaves turn color & fall. then its back to work.

Ummmmm, sorry.

I just bought a house!:D (first one)

The rebuild project is on hold until I can relocate my meager shop to my new(er), slightly less meager shop. I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on pistons/cylinders and the PP rebuild kit a month ago like I had planned. Money just got tight!

Oh yeah, please don't bring up interest rates. I watched the rates go from 5.25% to 6.375% in the week I was shopping for a loan! I ended up at 6%, and I feel lucky.

Jim

A competitor is running a 20% off promotion this week. Perhaps that has something to do with it?

I bought a bunch of stuff a couple of weeks ago from Pelican and the motor rebuild book at Barnes and Noble the other day. Book is a great resource.

Wayne...I'm dropping when in need. 100.00 last week on shift coupler. Car is runnning strong, thanks for beiing there but, I don't need ya right now.

Its too damm hot to work on cars here in Phoenix! The pool however takes little maintenance... especially with a margarita in hand!

Our business is booming and we are working our tails off, so much for someone's comments on the first page. We are up 30% over last year and its showing no signs of slowing. When it cools off in 8 weeks life will be great!

JoeA

It shouldn't. Pelican will generally match, and even with the 20% off, Pelican's *regular* prices are lower (I checked the price on sport shocks).

hey I ante'd up a grand this month.
Service was great thank you.

shipping to the east coast is expensive; however pelican does get all of my business, though there isn't too much of it. a break on shipping would be an inducement to get stuff to stockpile for projects; high shipping costs have prevented a number of spur of the moment purchases when the shipping added in around 15% of a 100.00 order.