What Happened To PAW?

[DanStokes]

I was fixin' to sign off for the night and somehow PAW (Performance Automotive Warehouse for you young un's) came to mind. I Googled them and they still have a tiny presence as an Ebay store but no clue as to what happened. They used to be HUGE and were sort of THE place for mail order (before online) speed parts and hard engine bits. Maybe they just ran out of steam or what? Any knowledge out there?

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

they went from being reasonably price for a catalog to killed by the other online-ebay-retailers. Even before the ebay death blow, their customer service was nonexistent. evolve or die.

[Loren]

Costs, personalities, suppliers, general business model? Apparently a winning start became a losing operation...Competitor Super Shops right-hooked them with their mail order thing (which also failed, Summit came along to pick it up which is why we have Summit stuff shipped from Sparks NV)... There must have been many factors I don't know, but the feel I got was that the market for speed parts was becoming kind-of a game of musical chairs, PAW didn't make the cut. Maybe the name's worth something still

It would be interesting to know more about the actual markets and players behind the names through that period where old-timey speedshops dropped away. The owner of the Speed Shop I used to go to (Rex Carson/Western Performance, cross-town competitor to Glendale Speed where David Frieburger once strutted his 'tude) simply moved on and retired, it seemed to me. Whoever he left it to, I don't know what they did with it. Business is tough, rents due every new month.

[squirrel]

I heard that near the end, PAW was specializing in early Hemis.

I for one was glad to see them go. I ordered stuff from them twice, and it didn't end up very well either time.

Summit does good by me. And they've been around a long time, since the 70s at least.

[Scott Liggett]

PAW had the huge catalog. They even had a retail store in North Hollywood, an old parts store. There massive warehouse in Northridge, where they stocked a ton of stuff was sold, they moved into a smaller building a block away, and didn't stock much of anything. They were drop shipping, everything was "two weeks to get." When Summit and Jeg's were stepping up their game, they got left in the dust. There was a bit of apathy by the people in charge.

[DanStokes]

Interesting. I knew some of you guys would know something.

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

What a blast! Loved looking thru their catalogs.
Like Squirrel, service left lots to be desired.

[Scott Liggett]

There are several old speed shops that are surviving in the LA area. Team C Performance in the Long Beach area. They are not big but they stock stuff and prices are close to Summit. The same can be said of J&M Speed Center in Riverside. They also have a mail order side California High Performance. Westside Performance in West LA is amazing it is still open. Some said they survived the harsh times by refilling NOS bottles through a mail slot at all times of the night. I know they also install stuff in a tiny shop out back.

These are all parts stores not just a fab or dyno shop.

Then there us Tognotti's in Sacramento. He still has that big store that used to be a Safeway. Don has other things going including show promoting, but he is still hands on there.