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JC Whitney
The History of JC Whitney
How a 1915 scrap metal yard became one of the largest direct marketers of "everything automotive."
In Chicago 1915, Henry Ford's Model T had been in mass production for only seven years, when a Lithuanian immigrant named Israel Warshawsky decided to climb on the running board of the emerging automotive industry. As cars began to break down, Israel saw an opportunity to mine replacement parts from derelict automobiles. He bought a piece of property on the city's south side at State Street and Archer Avenue and opened a scrap metal yard; The Warshawsky Company.
Industrial growth generated by World War I put the salvage business into high gear. Soon; the demand for auto parts outstripped the supply of derelict cars. Israel began buying up failed auto manufacturers and added new parts to his inventory. To welcome more customers, Israel added a retail store.
The Warshawsky Company grew right through the Great Depression, when few people could afford new cars or even new parts. By 1934; the company had a larger store and a successful wholesale catalog distributed exclusively through Chicago-area gas stations and mechanics. It also had a new employee with many bright, new ideas: Israel's son, Roy Warshawsky.
Roy joined his father just after graduating from the University of Chicago and proposed a consumer catalog to make products available nationwide. Roy placed a $60.00 ad in Popular Mechanics and invited readers to send in 25 cents for a "giant auto parts catalog." The ad produced a flood of response and the JC Whitney Catalog was on its way to becoming the do_it_yourselfer's favorite best seller.
In 1943; when Israel died, leadership of the company passed to Roy. As World War II cut back the supply of civilian goods; the demand for auto parts soared. By 1947; the retail store occupied an entire city block at 1900-1924 South State Street. The Warshawsky Company retail outlet was now the biggest automotive department store in the world -- "everything-automotive."
The post-war Baby Boom years spurred more growth on the catalog side of the business. The consumer catalog broke 100 pages; moved to 24-hour ordering and spawned a series of specialty catalogs targeted to key market segments.
Like his father; Roy developed new strategies to respond to changing customer needs. When Roy saw a need for products that did not exist; he contracted manufacturers to produce them. As consumer auto shows became more popular, Roy initiated a cooperative effort among retailers and manufacturers to make it easier for consumers to purchase independent aftermarket products. That effort led to the formation of the Automotive Parts & Accessories Association in 1967 and the election of Roy Warshawsky as its first president.
In 1991 Roy retired. To this da;, the company proudly maintains it's dedication to customer satisfaction, a vision started by Israel and Roy Warshawsky over 90 years ago. The year 1997 brought the sad news of Roy Warshawsky's passing. It also brought new accomplishments that Roy would applaud. To step up service to all of its customers, the company built a new 360,000 square-foot Operations Center in La Salle, Illinois. This state of the art facility puts the power and efficiency of new technology behind the efforts of a growing staff. And to make JC Whitney more accessible to computer users; the company opened a site on the World Wide Web.
Today, more than 90 years since Israel Warshawsky began recycling used auto parts; the Warshawsky/JC Whitney Company is the largest direct marketer of auto parts and accessories. Through a growing family of catalogs, http://www.jcwhitney.com and a new outlet store; millions of customers have easy access to "everything automotive".
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J.C. Whitney Overhauls Website
Aug 2, 2006 5:06 PM , By Jim Tierney
To make it easier for customers to shop for its automotive parts and accessories, Chicago-based merchant J.C. Whitney & Co. in June unveiled its new and improved Website. The revamped site makes navigation easier for customers and provides a more powerful search function, along with more products and larger images. Geoff Robertson, vice president of e-commerce, says the revamped Website “changes the dynamic” of the business. “The first thing is we have to present ourselves, who we are and with a new look and feel, and accentuate our value proposition,” Robertson says. “It’s our strength and differentiates us, first and foremost. We want to let people feel comfortable with who JC Whitney is.”
Founded in 1915, J.C. Whitney sells automobile, truck, and motorcycle products and accessories such as stereos, tools, operating manuals, security systems, and electronics. On the new site "you can scroll over an image without leaving that page,” Robertson says. “People are starting to see that efficiency and it’s shown with an increase in conversion. If we can make it an easy experience, then we can appeal to their needs. We’ve also made it easy to shop by make, model, or year. We’ve tailored a lot of landing pages, added cross sells and up sells. We’ve shown what other people are buying. How do you make customers feel good about their purchase? Assort by best sellers and customer reviews.”
Robertson says the Website must be easy to navigate, considering the company’s vast collection of automotive parts and accessories and its 12 specialty shops that cater to specific vehicles. J.C. Whitney’s merchandise selection includes 130,000 accessories that fit over 6 million different vehicles, plus more than 1.2 million parts that fit upward of 25 million different vehicles. “The goal of the design is to more quickly present relevant product to our customers and make the overall shopping experience easier to use,” Robertson says. “With such a large selection of automotive parts and accessories, our challenge is to make finding the right item for their vehicle as simple, as accurate, and as enjoyable as possible.”
The redesigned Website isn’t all that’s new for J.C. Whitney. Shortly after the site was relaunched, the company in late June named Lawrence J. Marmon president. Marmon is in charge of J.C. Whitney’s marketing and merchandising for six catalog titles and two Websites. Multichannel marketing poses many opportunities—and challenges—for J.C. Whitney, Marmon says. Just in the past few years “a lot of our products went from hard to find to easy to find. It’s a different ball game. The competitive field has changed dramatically.”
The improvements to its site will better help it compete with other marketers, Marmon notes. “The quality of our Internet site shows customers the availability of products through easy navigation,” he says. “We’re competitively priced and we focus on giving our customers more information about our products.” What’s more, he adds, “we’re letting our customers comment about their experiences. We want to bridge the gap between product and content because every vehicle is different.”
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