Quadratec rides internet to push Jeep after-market part sales
Company started in 1990 as catalog company was able to take advantage of the growth of online sales
WEST GOSHEN » When Ted Wentz started his Jeep catalog business in the basement of his Wayne house in 1990, his competitors were retail icons like Sears Roebuck and JCPenney – national companies that sold through catalogs.
Little did he know at the time how that would change.
“I had no idea how big this business could be,” said Wentz, now chairman and CFO of Quadratec, a top seller of after-market parts for Jeeps. “I started a catalog, ran magazine ads to get the word out.”
Wentz, a self-described “gearhead,” said he has always been interested in cars and racing.
“I worked at a gas station in Ocean City when I was 15,” Wentz fondly recalled during a recent interview at his office on Saunders Lane outside of West Chester. “I just always loved being around cars.”
Wentz wanted to start Quadratec because he believed the Jeep and 4-by-4 community did not have many reliable purchasing options, and the ones available in 1990 were not able to supply products a timely fashion.
It wasn’t long once Wentz got started that he had to join the online revolution to keep his business relevant.
“We had to reinvent ourselves as a digital company,” he said.
The transition worked. Wentz soon moved the company from his house to a warehouse in Newtown Square. After outgrowing that building, Quadratec moved to the current West Chester area location in 1999.
The company added two fulfillment facilities in the summer of 2000, – one in Harrisburg that would later be moved to Chambersburg – and one in Sparks, Nevada.
Quadratec added a second building to its West Chester location in 2007 to house a larger call center and administrative operation, along with a video and photo studio, and a in garage to perform product testing. The building also houses the department that produces a catalog many customers still look forward to getting.
“It’s that anticipation of something coming in the mail” that keeps some customers coming back for the catalog, explained Matt Konkle, content editor for the company’s website. “We offer the largest Jeep catalog currently on the market, and are one of the only companies still printing catalogs. They like holding it.”
Today, Quadratec has 140 employees and more than 200,000 square feet in its three locations
“The pace of everything is so much faster,” said Bear Pratt, Quadratec’s vice president of marketing.
That, of course, is being pushed by the internet. Between Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram, Quadratec has around 500,000 online followers, Konkle said.
But the company doesn’t rely on social media alone to connect with its customers.
Employees travel to places like Moab, Utah and Daytona Beach, Florida for a full schedule of Jeep events from March to October.
The event season winds up with an annual tent sale that draws thousands to its Saunders Lane location near West Chester.
“We also help sponsor dozens of smaller Jeep events around the country, providing money and raffle prizes to Jeep clubs, meet and greets, fundraisers for various groups, offroad adventures and many others,” said Konkle.
Owning a Jeep is a lifestyle for many, he said.
“There are very few (automobiles) that you can take the door and top off of,” Konkle noted. “It’s so easy to fix up and modify. Then you have its ruggedness.” Soft tops are Quadratec’s biggest sellers. Headlights, bumpers, seat covers, tires and interior accessories also are big sellers.
“The aftermarket just gone nuts in the decade,” Konkle said.
On the web: www.quadratec.com has last