Did they go under?  I was just thinking about ordering some subframe connectors for my 65, just this morning.

Gate to anyone go under.   But looks like some good deals to be had.

Raymond_B wrote:

Yeah hate to see a company go under, I hope the owner is just retiring and nothing bad happened.

Well, it's a complicated story and none of it is really good. Not gospel, but something along the lines of Brent Vandervort, aka Fatman, sold the business to Tim about 3-4 years ago. Tim faced all kinds of business and personal issues and has closed the business and is liquidating the assets.

When a good company with very good products goes under, it's often how that company was (mis)managed. Under original ownership all was good. After they sold, problems arose. Happens in way too many business transitions. Successor is not quite what the founder was. Sometimes the issue is drastic change in the economy; sometimes they just paid too much. Mostly, it's how the business 2.0 was being run. 

Not everyone can navigate every situation. Case in point - 
When I was in HS and college I worked at a bicycle shop. Great job, awesome owner/boss. Super successful shop. Owner opened a second location. Also successful. When I graduated college, he wanted me to buy the shop. I didn't want to be in retail so I declined. My successor bought the shop. Owner carried the paper. Guess who got the shop back after a few years? 

Second case - 
I talked to a fellow with a successful radiator shop. It was a solid, well-known business and the owner was running it effectively for decades. His kids and his employees didn't want the biz. 

One Friday he just closed it. Everyone was shocked. He never tried to sell it. Numerous people told him he should have sold it. He said, "oh OK I will." What???  Amazingly he didn't realize that selling a dead business is highly unlikely. He'd already let everyone go and all his clients were aware that it's closed. Not surprisingly, he was unable to sell the closed business. Wow. Just wow.   

One day in person, after a couple beers, I may tell some of you guys the whole story (or just a larger part) of my experience with such things.  What I heard once about family businesses is pretty accurate: The first generation creates it, the second generation enjoys it, and the third generation destroys it.  I'm the 4th generation. 

6sally6 wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

One day in person, after a couple beers, I may tell some of you guys the whole story (or just a larger part) of my experience with such things.  What I heard once about family businesses is pretty accurate: The first generation creates it, the second generation enjoys it, and the third generation destroys it.  I'm the 4th generation. 

Maybe !!! (When I host the Bash)
6sal6
 

 
Uhh... WHAAAT?