Why Aftermarket Parts?
Why is there even a market for aftermarket commercial kitchen parts? Over 40 years ago the market was changed by introducing aftermarket parts on a national level. Now that looked very different than it does today. However, may factories were charging a significant up-charge on their parts. Many thermostats from Robertshaw are not specific to one OEM. Regulators are not specific to one OEM. Even many switches, yup you guessed it, are not specific to one OEM. After speaking to founders of the Aftermarket segment in our industry, they had a realization. If they stocked many of these multi use items, that are the exact same item the OEM's were selling at a premium, they could stock a minimal amount of SKUs, offer a large cross reference with these, all the while offering them at a significant discount over the OEM distributors. They made a statement that has always stuck with me, "The OEMs created a demand for our products and company".
So that then brings us to, Why CashParts? We have seen what has happened to our industry. With the consolidation and buy outs of most commercial kitchen parts suppliers, and the many bad decisions that are implemented by individuals that do not know or love our industry. Decisions to drastically chop warranty periods while telling you, "You're welcome", or the price gap between OEM and aftermarket getting too close to notice, and even selling to end users for LESS than the service technicians.We at CashParts, Love what we do. We love this industry. It has been painful to see the decline in service provided by parts suppliers along with the complete lack of knowledge or even the desire to learn. Couple that with the fact that you are being treated more like a customer number then a person, and well, we looked around and realized it was no longer just the OEMs that were "creating a demand for our products and company". We at CashParts are bringing back the old school parts house to our industry, because lets face it, the demand has not changed, just the suppliers have.