Dixie Distributing Evicted

As some of you may know and most don't, the Dixie Distributing building was condemned a year or two ago and they've been running on backup generators ever since because the city cut their power. The building's a sprawling monster, with over 1 million square feet and if I remember correctly 7 stories tall. I visited there a few years back and it was a surreal experience to say the least.....like a futuristic movie after the apocalypse. Floors were flooded with water, one floor was burned out, 1000's of boxes and crates everywhere, the outside was vandalized with graffiti and the windows that weren't broken out were shot. The red brick showed its age like it was ready to give up at any second and the whole block which the building took up seemed to be a century older than anything else around. Maybe the time of day had a lot to do with the ominous mood......I was there at dusk and used a flashlight on several of the floors I was allowed to visit.....just creepy.

Anyway, I finally got a hold of someone today and they're negotiating with the city to let them back in, but they don't have any information at the moment for me. They're taking names and will call if and when they are back.

What this means is, a lot of parts are in there and a lot of people depend on Harry and Dixie for parts. If they are evicted, there is going to be a void in the market until they can find a new location. I know I buy quite a few things from Dixie and now all orders are on hold until I hear something. In some cases, there is no alternative source......and if there is.....it's usually over twice the price.

I'll try to keep this up to date as I find out more info.

Kurt

The Harley stuff is barely the tip of the iceberg in that building. There is a whole floor full of used forklifts. Another full of International truck parts. Harry buys anything he thinks he can make a buck on.

[Pa]

Talked to a reputable fellow who said the building is now padlocked up. Pa

I was told on the phone thursday (it wasn't Helen) that any of my order that was available at the Florida facility would be shipped as usual.

Let's continue to support them any way we can.

....Cotten

Harry bought Florida Cycle Supply and Kingco too.

[Pa]

I was told on the phone thursday (it wasn't Helen) that any of my order that was available at the Florida facility would be shipped as usual.

Let's continue to support them any way we can.

....Cotten

I agree and it should be only reasonable to permit the inventory to be transfered elsewhere.

Well........general consensus is.....the city is doing a power play to push Harry out and take the property. The city evidently is undergoing a "renovation" and they're up to Harry's backdoor. I was told no written correspondence for violations have been submitted and no one seems to know why the doors were chained......"officially". The city inspector and Fire Marshal both knew there was no electricity for the past year. They also knew the fire suppression system did not work for several years. They did go in last week for an electrical inspection and found the place had been robbed....and there were signs that the assholes were coming back because they had bagged and laid out the cache on the floor in piles.......(sounds like an inside job if the robbers were this casual about their actions). They had broken into several locked vaults where Dixie stored the more expensive and valuable products. They filed a Police report and asked them if they could put the product back in the vaults and secure them.....the dicks said no.....to leave everything where it was.....can you believe this??!!!!

I called the Mayors office to "express" my concern and was transferred to the attorney handling the case for the city. I left my "concerns" with the secretary to pass onto the lawyer expecting it to end with her. Believe it or not, the attorney returned my call personally......but I missed it because I was busy at the time. I'm debating on whether or not to call back and talk with him to let him know that he's just not affecting Harry, but 1000's around the world.

[Pa]

Call him back Kurt ! We will start a petition if need be.

My question is:

Why did Dixie happen to get into such a situation in the first place?

No water, power...flooded floors.....???

Shoot.........if it because of bad/improper management......they should be bailed out by the Federal Goverment as has the feds bailed out numerous banks/financal institutions in the past years. ONLY FAIR.

If from no fault of their own.....let them go under

George

Dixie is in very sad condition. Last time I was there with Bruce was several years ago on our way to Wauseon. There were several other AMCA guys there shopping at the same time. There have been fires on different floors of the building. The was no handicapped access so we had the carry a wheelchair bound customer up a flight of stairs to enter the building. Huge wire mesh bins have been brought in and parts with the packaging burned off were loaded into these bins. Guys rummaging through stuff leave it looking like a rats nest. Dust is thick. Elevators were not working. No power or water on the upper floors. Harry won't let ya open windows to get fresh air or let in a breeze to lower the heat because he thinks you will toss parts out the window. Note this is several stories high and any part tossed would be trashed when it hit the sidewalk below.
Searching for parts in Dixie is an adventure not for the fant of heart. Climbing flights of stairs. Bring food and water. rags to wipe your hands on. Flashlights and spare batteries are a must. There is no order. Parts piled here and there. bear in mind this place has been cherry picked by experts for decades. You aren't gonna find and XA forks or WLA engines. All the good stuff went out the doors years ago. You can still find horn buttons and WLA transmission sprockets. Along with cases of WLA piston pins and std bore 45" pistons. There is an endless sea of Aremacchi seats and exhaust pipes. You won't find and Superior pipes or mufflers. That stuff is long gone. Once in a while you may stumble onto a few parts that someone stashed under something to get at a later time and never returned. There is a boiler room wirh several offices that had a fire in it years ago. It sits as it was then with parts and papers on the desks. Harry simply put other desks in another parts of the building. Harry buys anything he can resell. Opening cases you may find it full of childrens books or cookware. The place is a catch all for everything. One floor of the building is International Harverster truck and equipment parts. Another floor is worn out used forklifts. Crap is piled everywhere. It is an adventure you will never forget or be in a hurry to do again.
\

Well George, that's one way to look at it.....and I do put quite a bit of blame on Harry for this debacle and am pissed off that he has put me in this situation, but I will say this......if we lose Harry and Dixie Distributing even for a brief period of time, the price of a lot of 45 and BT stuff will more than triple what you're all paying now. The parts they have are sold to the likes of V-Twin and a few others I won't mention, who double and in some cases more than quadruple the original cost to dealers! Most of the parts I sell at retail are less than V-Twins dealer cost. Even if you take the stance that Harry is at fault, you better hope there's a fix because ultimately the end result will come out of your pockets and there's nothing I can do. I've been sourcing parts the past two weeks and adjusting prices accordingly........plus, I have over a dozen orders for BT cylinders I can't fill, so the guys reading this who ordered cylinders please know I'm working with Helen to see if I can get them as soon as possible.

I have already felt the pinch!
(I have relied upon Dixie since 1985.)

....Cotten