After he finished the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Jay Waldron had to find something else to do. So the former competitive shooter turned to a hobby - messing around with cars - and joined his father, Jim Waldron, in the auto recycling business.

It was a new venture for both father and son. Jim had retired from the wood industry. He and Jay didn't know much about auto recycling. But they found a local facility for sale on Franklin Boulevard in Eugene, Ore. and quickly went to work.

Sixteen years later, Glenwood Foreign Auto Parts is a highly successful enterprise with two locations - neither at the original half-acre lot which turned out to be "simply too small." The corporate headquarters is now in Creswell, about 17 miles away from the original lot. The second site is located just 10 miles away in Eugene.

Family-Owned

Importantly, Glenwood Foreign Auto Parts is also a family-owned and operated business. Jay's wife, Sharee, helps with administrative tasks. Both Jay's parents are active in the business. Jay's mother, Betty, handles the bookkeeping for the company.

"We have a good, strong family relationship," said Jay. "Of course, it can be trying sometimes because we might have different ideas or frames of thought. But we work through that. We've always found a way to come to the right decision, at least as history has proven."

The family works mostly at the Creswell location. A longstanding employee, Dave Pace, runs the Eugene location for them.

"We've certainly grown," said Jay. "When we first took over the business, we probably processed 100 cars a year. We're now processing close to 1,000."

Foreign Specialists

Glenwood Foreign Auto Parts specializes in late-model foreign parts (Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu and other imports) and occasionally domestic makes. The Creswell location, which stocks the new cars, has an 18,000-square-foot warehouse for inventory and an 8,000-square-foot building for processing. The Eugene location stores the older cars that are brought in for steel and salvaged parts before they are crushed.

The business offers a standard 90-day warranty "on everything" and optional extended warranties. "To stay competitive, we've actually offered up to six-month warranties for most shops in town," added Jay.

The wholesale business continues to grow. According to Jay, "It used to be half-and-half walk-in retail and wholesale. We're seeing a change in the market where retail is almost nonexistent. We're probably almost 80 percent wholesale now."

Internet Marketing

Jay used to advertise a lot in the yellow pages and phonebooks but is now drawing back a bit in favor of online directories. "The Internet is where it's at," he acknowledged. "I haven't used a print phonebook in probably four years. If I need a number, I look it up online. We're following that trend.

"It used to be you had to just worry about the guy across the street," he added. "But now you're competing with someone across the country."

And while Glenwood Foreign Auto Parts will continue to increase its presence on the Internet, Jay has other goals in mind.

"[The industry is] going to change dramatically in the next five to 10 years with hybrids, fuel-cell cars and so on," he said. "As much as it has changed in the last 10 years, it's going to change again. We are involved with the association. We are staying on top of the new cars and the new technologies to stay competitive."