GRID Off-Road, a designer and manufacturer of custom wheels for trucks, Jeeps and SUVs, has entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Keystone Automotive Operations for the U.S. and Canada. Keystone will assume responsibility for developing and servicing the North American aftermarket for all GRID-branded products.
“To compete and grow in today’s dynamic retail environment, businesses like ours need to find better ways to deliver products to market quickly and efficiently,” said Lawrence Lee, owner of GRID Off-Road. “After lining up our strengths and thinking about what we really love doing – designing innovative wheels and manufacturing them to the highest quality – we came to the realization that we needed to find a partner that could help us reach our growth potential and tackle the supply chain challenges.
Lee said that after an exhaustive review of their options, he and his team decided a full-service distributor was the answer. “With Keystone’s network of warehouses, fleet of trucks, commitment to inventory and complete toolkit of marketing solutions, they became the obvious choice,” he said. “We market, design and manufacture to the highest trendsetting standards in the aftermarket today. We believe their unique ability to serve the aftermarket coupled with their approach is a perfect fit.”
Keystone operates seven distribution centers in North America with a combined available warehouse footprint of more than 2.5 million square feet. GRID Off-Road products – currently 10 GRID Cast designs with three additional designs slated for 2019 – will be stocked in all locations to provide broader next day delivery service with improved fill rates. Grid’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is near Keystone’s new 450,000-square-foot warehouse in Eastvale, California. The two companies say that proximity will result in quick response times for replenishment as well as the delivery of custom and special order wheels.
“We are extremely pleased to have this opportunity to work with GRID and serve both their existing customers, our very broad customer base and the future customers we develop together,” said Bill Rogers, president of Keystone Automotive Operations. “GRID’s focus on providing quality products and a positive customer experience is in alignment with ours. Our ability to reach the market through our sales team, the BIG Show and our marketing programs will provide GRID an excellent platform for growth. We appreciate their confidence in us and will work hard to ensure the potential of their products and brand is realized.”
Andy Morgan, category director at Keystone, commented, “Opportunities like this don’t come around every day and we really want share our excitement about GRID with all our customers. In the coming weeks, our customers should be on the lookout for special offers, contest announcements and prize giveaways. It’s going to be a lot of fun and an exciting way to showcase their products and celebrate our partnership.”
“Customer care is a primary concern during transitions like this,” added Lee. To make finding and buying GRID products easy, the complete line including images, descriptions, specifications and on-hand inventory can now be found online at ekeystone.com – Keystone’s B2B e-commerce portal. “To ensure a seamless transition for our current GRID customers, we will be working closely with the team at Keystone to make sure that there is no interruption of service.”
A dedicated Keystone new accounts representative will be contacting GRID customers and assisting them in setting up their new account with Keystone as well as helping with any open order or other transition concerns.
