MIAMI, Fla. and Hayward, Calif. — Larry Pacey, president and CEO of National Performance Warehouse (NPW), has announced that the company is acquiring the wholesale operations of Speed Warehouse. The transaction will be completed on April 26th.
Speed Warehouse has been in business for more than 60 years. The business was started by Jerry Light in 1949, selling high-performance parts after World War II. Speed operates out of three distribution points in Hayward, San Jose and Tustin, Calif.
Jerry Light’s grandson Gary is currently president of the business, which operates both Speed Warehouse, the WD portion of the business, and Vic Hubbard Auto Supply, the retail and installer segment of the original business. Vic Hubbard Auto Supply is being retained by Light and is not part of this acquisition.
“Being a wholesaler is our business and we are staying true to our principles and not competing with our customers, as almost all our competitors do. NPW is a three-step distributor and the way we structured this deal shows our commitment to our jobber customers everywhere,” said Pacey.
Gary Light, president of Speed Warehouse Inc., added, “Larry and NPW have provided me the opportunity to concentrate on the retail portion of our business, which my grandfather started many years ago. My father was able to grow the retail business and start Speed Warehouse Inc., which earned the SEMA Warehouse Distributor of the Year award in 1985, 2000 and 2005. The acquisition by Larry Pacey also allowed me to make sure that the employees who helped Speed Warehouse Inc. become successful would have a home with NPW, which was very important to me. Keeping the Vic Hubbard store will allow me to stay involved in an industry that my family has been involved in for many years.”
National Performance has been vocal about its desire to continue to grow by acquisition. This is its second acquisition in two years, the last being Southern Performance Warehouse in Clearwater, Fla.
When asked about future targets, Pacey said, “We continue to research potential fits for our expansion plan, which is to cover the entire U.S. We remain interested in speaking with companies that feel our acquisition of their business would benefit the industry, their company and their employees.”