October 2023 • Volume 26 , Number 10
www . powersportsbusiness . com
INSPIRING SUCCESS THROUGH MARKET INTELLIGENCE
DISTRIBUTION DOWNLOAD
A conversation with Turn 14 CEO , Jon Pulli
BY BRENDAN BAKER EDITOR IN CHIEF
3Parts Unlimited has last
hurrah in Madison .
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Happy employees produce better results , according to this dealer .
As the news came out in late August that automotive distribution giant Turn 14 was purchasing Tucker Powersports , we contacted company leaders for an interview .
Jon Pulli co-founded Turn 14 Distribution with partner Chris Candido . These college friends shared a love for sport compact cars and technology , and with that , they started an e-commerce store in 2002 .
“ We did retail e-commerce auto parts for five years ,” says Pulli , “ and then we sold that off to one of the employees who joined us early on and started Turn 14 Distribution to go into wholesale . And we were 100 % wholesale . That was always our goal .”
Pulli explains that they came from being dealers and understood the world of selling auto parts . “ That ’ s always just been our lifeblood ,” he says , “ understanding being a reseller and how a distributor plays a role in that on the automotive side . It was a struggle at first to sell Japanese sport compact parts . There was a stigma around that at the time . But that ’ s how we started .”
Turn 14 branched into the late-model domestic market , followed by European and truck parts . “ We ’ ve always grown by carrying a full breadth of inventory of the brands we represent ,” Pulli says . “ We ’ ll always have a smaller line card than everybody else . But we have a higher level of focus . We have more people trying to grow vendors and customers . So , a sales rep at Turn 14 may have fewer customers than a sales rep at another organization . We ’ re hyper-focused on growing businesses with us .”
We asked Pulli the essential question : Why did you buy Tucker ? “ I don ’ t think it ’ s a surprise that Tucker has been struggling ,” he remarks , noting that Tucker has been in trouble for some time . “ That kind of hit home to me because I am a champion of what the wholesale distributor does .”
Pulli told us about Turn 14 ’ s mission statement and how manufacturers and dealers can access the company ’ s seamless supply chain that connects and supports entrepreneurs . He says Turn 14 is fully committed to helping small businesses through coaching , education , or other solutions that encourage growth in a modern ( i . e ., rapidly changing ) economy .
See Turn 14 , Page 29
Yamaha recently released the Wolverine X2 1000
See page 20