The Fiero Factory News (Page 4/5)
82-T/A [At Work] SEP 12, 09:59 AM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:

I might be able to come and help some, too. Depending upon the timing. (I think SWMBO has some events planned for October. I'll have to work around her schedule.)
Also heard from another person, who also indicated that he may be able to come and help. If it's on a weekend.

I also pretty much have all the spare parts I need, so it's all good. (Subliminal message. Will work for free. )




If it works with your schedule, you're enroute... so I could always swing by and pick you up. I plan to get a rental.
Raydar SEP 12, 11:21 AM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:

If it works with your schedule, you're enroute... so I could always swing by and pick you up. I plan to get a rental.



Thanks for the offer! I'm only about four hours out, so it's not a big deal, either way. But, as you said, it depends upon the schedule.
fieroguru SEP 12, 08:22 PM
MIke, I would be willing to help (free of charge) as well. Just let me know when so I can move things around.
Dukesterpro SEP 23, 09:58 AM
Hi Mike,

Let me know if you want a new website, I should be able to get one up and hosted for you free of charge. Just tell me what you want and I will make it happen.
rbell2915 OCT 11, 04:13 PM
Mike, sent you a PM. Here are photos for reference.




mrfiero NOV 21, 10:15 PM
I figured I'd post another update, of sorts. As of today, all of the Fieros and most of the parts are gone. The last car was crushed this morning. I wasn't there to witness that in person, but I have some pictures and some videos. I'll post them up as soon as I am able.

Things moved pretty fast and I did my best to strip off and sequester as many parts as I could in the time that I had to do it. I spent a total of 3 weeks in Alabama over the past couple of months going through each car.

Anyway, thanks to those who wanted to come down to help me move stuff around....it wasn't needed in the end. I was effectively bought out, so I didn't lose much money. I was given the option to cherry pick the cars and the parts building first though and I did save quite a bit of stuff. I am working on how best to sell it all. I haven't sold on eBay in ages, but I did create a new seller account. It is (of course); thefierofactory

I have not listed anything for sale yet, but plan on testing the waters this weekend. Ideally, I would just sell it through my website (thefierofactory.com), but nothing is set up there to actively sell stuff. Maybe after the first of the year.

That's it. This small chapter in the book of Fiero is now closed.
Stingray92 NOV 21, 10:58 PM
I'll just say I appreciate what you're doing, hope you're on the + side when all is settled and when I need something possibly you might have it.
Dennis LaGrua NOV 26, 04:32 PM
The end of an era that began in Toney AL. Ed Parks at one time spent days on the road buying and towing Fieros to his place. At one time I believe that there were close to 300 cars there. When the Fiero collector craze by the young crowd (at that time)diminished so did the demand for parts. Today most in the Gen Z audience have no interest in hobby/collector cars. That's why I say it's near the end of the era for new Fiero owners and collectors.

------------------
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Fierotech DEC 04, 04:51 PM

quote
Originally posted by IMSA GT:

Let's just call a spade a spade and say the failure of this entire thing is Jeremy Biggs who apparently only wanted the business so he could buy a fully stocked shop and start his own non-Fiero repair business. All Fiero events at the shop stopped, any family oriented Fiero gatherings stopped. Basically he wanted zero to do with the Fiero crowd. A complete clown bought Ed Parks business and unfortunately you got caught in the middle.

No apology will ever be necessary from you, Mike. You put your entire life on hold to attempt to save the Fiero end of the business. We all appreciate and respect your efforts.




You are correct, it took a complete clown to buy The Fiero Factory in 2010 when Ed wanted to retire. He told me he had offered it to many people who all turned him down. He also told me if I didn't buy it, he would crush everything then, and I believed him. I didn't think it was the best financial decision based on my lack of funds and working capital, but I didn't want to see it go away...so I bought it. I left my dream job in IT work making more (for doing less) than I’d ever made before, and more than I’ve made since, to buy the business, JUST to keep it alive. What a clown.

I am an ASE certified tech who had over 15 years of auto repair experience by that point, so when the Fiero parts sales and repairs failed to pay the bills through 2010, I was faced with the choice to do auto repair for local customers to keep the doors open, or close it and crush everything at that point. I chose to try to keep the business afloat by opening up my shop to repair all makes and models, and borrowing LOTS of money to subsidize the Fiero business...for nearly a decade. Definite clown move. Right away I started getting slack from the "Fiero community" for working on other cars. For not being Ed Parks. For not having 8 hours a day to sit behind a computer and answer emails and phone calls...because I was working my rear off to try to keep this Fiero parts business afloat. I was still travelling all over the place to pick up parts cars and jobs. I was still spending countless hours a day on the phone with people hundreds of miles away from me who had no intention of coming to my shop or buying any parts, but rather wanted me to diagnose their cars or tell them if the part their neighbor was going to give them was going to work on their car since it was a different year. What a COMPLETE CLOWN.

Ed Parks was viewed as a saint, and everyone wanted to give him money and business. *I* was one of two or three people who did nearly EVERYTHING in Ed Park's Fiero Factory with regards to repairs and pulling/shipping parts. Ed was the owner, the figurehead, the guy who could spend all day chatting with people. Once Ed was gone, I was one of two or three people who did EVERYTHING in Jeremy Biggs' Fiero Factory, and there wasn't an Ed to be that public figure. I certainly didn't have time to be it, and wasn't particularly incentivized to be it based on the crap I got from certain members of the Fiero community.

I kept that business from going away and somehow became the enemy. I tried to post here and other places to help people and advertise. I was generally met with a bunch of crap like Dennis and you posted in this thread. I didn’t change any of Ed’s prices for the first year and constantly read how I was “jacking up prices” and how much people missed “how it was when Ed was there”. Why would I keep coming back? I held a swapmeet in 2010. It was a huge financial and time burden, and with gas prices, etc., there was minimal turnout. In 2011, there was no swapmeet planned for financial and time reasons, and that weekend we had record breaking tornados come through the area. The shop was without power for two weeks, we had major flooding, etc. I took a read on what I could, and decided the swapmeet was no more. I couldn't afford the time or money to host it. I'm sorry. What a clown.

When Mike and I started discussing the business I was at the point I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep my business open at all, Fiero or otherwise. I had started crushing Fieros to pay bills. I explained EVERYTHING to Mike, I believe I actually discouraged him from getting involved...but we both didn't want it to go away, and he had a plan that could have been viable if Covid didn't happen. So we worked together to keep the business alive. Unfortunately it didn't work out...but you know what? Reading things like this about what a complete clown I am, and how I sold Mike an albatross and such...I should thank you guys. I felt terrible that I had failed to keep what Ed Parks had built alive. I truly did. For the last decade and a half. But now I realize I need to stop being a clown, stop being content with just getting by and being in debt to keep something alive that is long dead, and for what? For everyone to say I destroyed the business? To talk trash about me?

15 YEARS LATER, I no longer own a warehouse that I can't use but still have to pay for because it is crammed full of literally a bunch of junk. I no longer have to maintain 5 acres of land for hundreds of junk cars to rot away on. That's all gone. To be clear....this "fully stocked shop" that I bought "just to start a non-Fiero business" wasn't even purchased from Ed Parks. I bought a bunch of parts cars from Ed. I bought a warehouse full of piles of unusable scrap. I bought the name, phone number, etc. The property and shop were being rented by Ed. I purchased it 10 years ago from the owner. The only thing I bought from Ed that helped me start a different business was a few lifts and an air compressor. Tools were mine. Computers, mine. Scan tools, mine. The absolute smartest thing I could have done from a business perspective would have been to scrap everything in 2010, take the couple of lifts I bought and all of my tools, and find a much cheaper, smaller place to rent and make an auto repair business out of. Better yet I could have just not got involved, let Ed crush everything and be the bad guy, and keep my IT job. But I didn't. I did every damn thing I could and quite a few things I couldn't just to keep these Fiero parts around for as long as possible for as many people who needed them as possible. So please stop making assumptions when you really have no clue what it is you're talking about. But yeah, I am quite a clown. You nailed that one. Trying my best to change, though.

I want nothing but success for Mike. We have tried MANY things over the years, together, to try to keep from getting to this point. But this business hasn't been good to either of us. I appreciate the people who realize that the economy has changed over the last two decades. Realize the world has changed. 20 years ago Ed owned one of the only places on the planet where you could find parts for a Fiero. Now everyone who has a Fiero has a parts car or knows 10 people who do. You can post on Facebook "I need a widget for my Fiero". Mike has one for $20 plus shipping...and three other people have one for $19 plus shipping. Guess what? Most people don't spend the extra dollar to support Mike "just because" like they used to with Ed. They care more about that dollar.

Everyone loves the idea of a "Fiero Factory" type place being around...but when push comes to shove, most aren't willing to spend the money to keep it around. So...it’s gone.

All because of Jeremy Biggs, apparently.

I'm OK with that. I have big shoulders. Blame me. Ed has passed, Mike is a good guy. I can be the a$$hole. That’s fine. However…while I’m sure there are people who have met me and know me personally who think I’m a jerk or clown, I take exception to those who do, who don’t have a clue who I actually am and what I’ve actually done. You HAVE NOT earned that right. Have a 30 minute grown-up to grown-up conversation with me before calling me names, at least.

Take care all, and please make some attempt to support Mike as he moves forward. To those who did support me over the years, I TRULY appreciate it and thank you. For the rest of you, maybe there is a market for a “Jeremy, the Fiero Factory Killer” voodoo doll that everyone can stab and burn. I dunno. You all need *something* that I could never give you.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Biggs
82-T/A [At Work] DEC 04, 07:19 PM
It makes me sad to see these kinds of responses. As painful as it is for me to know that the Fiero Factory is basically gone, I was there a few months ago, and I can attest that Jeremy and Mike did everything they possibly could. The business simply was not sustainable.

I think it's easy for all of us to make judgements... but we all have lives, careers, and goals. Running something like the Fiero Factory, in Alabama, is not going to provide an income that many of us would expect. It would be a sacrifice... why should we demand that Mike or Jeremy do it?

If you think about how many Fieros you see on the road each day, you have to consider if buying and selling parts for these cars can ever turn a profit at this point. I've seen literally one in the past two years, and it was in pieces in an open garage about 10 miles from my house. There is a declining market, and for those who do have parts Fieros... there are dozens of sites now when you can buy a part that's already been removed and tagged.

Ed Parks had a great business back in the day, because these cars were new and common enough, and he was one of the few places that had everything. Times have changed... and I hate to see these guys getting trashed when they were the ones who tried to keep it alive for so long. I'd just ask that people give them a little bit of grace.

My daughter is putting together a video (not trying to plug it here), and we're trying to make it as positive as possible. Every story does eventually have to come to an end... and as much as it pains me to see everything gone, I'm also happy for both Mike and Jeremy that this is largely off their shoulders. It's easy for us who might see it now and then, to think how great it is. But if you have to see it every day, and know that the stress is all yours... that's a whole other feeling.