History
Snyder's opened it's doors for business on August 10, 1988. That day was a realization of a dream for Ralph Snyder who had dreamed of owning a salvage yard since browsing through yards as a teenager.
The opportunity had even knocked softly once in the early 1960's when a local yard was selling out near Ralph's home Dayton, OH. Ralph had gone so far as to show his father the yard and tried to urge him to purchase the dying business, but to no avail. The dream went dormant with the advent of a wife and family soon afterwards.
With a family to support, they moved to Phoenix, AZ. where construction promised a bright future. Through the seventies and the early eighties, Ralph's two oldest sons, Dan and Andy, grew into their teens and into the love of hot rods that their father had passed on. Both boys spent some time in the local yards around Phoenix browsing for parts to keep their cars running. The dream that once was Ralph's now had planted a seed into Dan and Andy. More time would pass while the boys finished high school and went on to college.
In May of 1988 Dan graduated from Beloit College in Beloit, WI. with a bachelors of arts in Economics and Management. A few days later construction started on what would be the first building of Snyder's. The building was constructed on 10 acres of land along state highway 95 just south of Holland, TX. (The Snyder family had relocated to central Texas just a year before). Once Snyder's had opened its doors in August of 1988, Ralph and Dan plunged blindly into the world of entreprenuership. The first cars were brought in using Ralph's 1984 Chevrolet ¾ ton pickup with a $700 slide-in wrecker unit. After bending the frame on the pickup, Ralph shortened the frame on a 1962 Chevrolet C-60 and swapped the slide-in unit.
Income was supplemented in the early years by shop and mobile welding done by Ralph and parts installations done by Dan. Any cheap truck or car was Snyder's's specialty in the early years. The first of thousands of vehicles purchased by Dan was a 1960 Falcon 4 door, bought for $50. Many more of these "cherries" would be hauled in before the move was made to late model salvage a few years later.
The early years were illustrated by the fact that there were no interchange manuals. It was common practice to guess what part might be the same as the customers part and pull it to match. Many times this scenario resulted in a lot of work with no pay. After a couple of years of "spinning wheels", the first interchange manuals were purchased.
The next big change came in the form of computerization. A yard located near Austin, TX had decided to update to a Hollander Yard Management System and had it's used Fast Parts system for sale. To Dan's surprise, when he mentioned the available computer system to his father, the idea was received with open arms.
About 1993 more changes were under way at Snyder's. Andy had decided to return to the family business after working as a forester in east Texas. A new 10,000 square foot warehouse was under construction. Snyder's was poised to step up to the plate and become a modern auto recycler. After moving into the new warehouse and dedicating themselves to becoming 100% computerized, the first voice "hot line" was installed. Many Saturdays and Sundays were spent by Dan and Andy inventorying the approximately 1500 vehicles that were already in place in the yard. It would take about two years of overtime work and attrition by crushing before the yard was 100% computerized.
The Fast Parts computer system had helped Snyder's get its inventory computerized, but it had its limits. The Snyders had begun to sell parts wholesale to other yards on the Compass Lone Star Hot Line and sensed that there was a lot more demand to be tapped into. The Snyders wanted EDEN. The EDEN network was a computerized hot line linking approximately 2500 yards across the United States and Canada. The problem was that Eden was not available throught the Fast Parts system so another change was eminent. In October of 1996 Snyder's purchased the Hollander Yard Management System to facilitate access to EDEN. This one move probably had the single largest effect on the volume of business done at Snyder's.
Another Snyder sibling joined the team in 1998. Bonnie, who had been an office manager at a doctor's office in Phoenix, decided to start a family. She approached Dan about doing the books full time at home for Snyder's, and after agreement by Andy and Ralph, has never looked back. Recently Bonnie and her husband, Nick, have moved to Holland to be closer to the family and Nick is training to be a salesman. What a valuable asset both of them are.
Further evidence of Snyder's being a family business are Anna Laura, the youngest daughter of Ralph, and Travis, the youngest son. Anna, who has been with the business since 1997, is currently helping Bonnie with payroll and other bookkeeping roles as well as data entry and inventory control. Travis has grown up with the company and is currently a full time college student. He has contributed to the business from practically every angle. He has worked as a parts puller, delivery truck driver, processor and currently is a salesman when on summer vacation.
Currently Snyder's is looking forward to the new millennium with anticipation. With consolidation looming in the auto recycling industry, many things are sure to change in the future. Rest assured, Snyder's will face the changes with a professional outlook and be leading the pack into a future that is sure to find a place for an industry that is one of the largest recyclers of natural resources in the world. The future looks bright indeed!!!