Robert,
I've gotten to know Charles Runyan over the last 15 years. I can tell you
that he's not so much "a little sold on himself" as he is eccentric. And,
yes, to the dismay of many of us, he went a bit overboard with building his
"authentic, English Pub", The Coventry Inn. Charles was forced to close it
(he still owns it) and get back to his core business. To his credit, he has
very publicly acknowledged his errors and sworn to stick to building up TRF.
He's been almost embarrassingly candid in acknowledging his financial
blunders involving the Inn and I respect him for being up-front with his
customers.
In our local MG club, there are those who simply don't care for Charles
(he's really a decent sort and means well....you just have to give him some
latitude for his eccentricity) and, as a result, won't do business with TRF.
My position is that:
#1.) By not supporting TRF, they ARE supporting Moss and VB. Neither of
those two outfits have the passion for the automobiles that the TRF people
have. I've told some: "if you don't support TRF, you are shitting in your
own hat and would rue the day that Moss and VB are the only ones left
standing". TRF is a strong, viable alternative to the other two. The
competition is good for all. If it weren't for TRF, Moss and VB would have
much less reason to keep their prices down and their inventory up.
#2.) John Swauger and the rest of the staff at TRF are top-notch people and
do a terrific job of running the business.
#3.) Since they can't argue with the fact that TRF provides them the best
parts and service of the bunch, even if they aren't the cheapest, stop
tripping over personalities and other trivial stuff. Look at "the big
picture", guys.
Oh, yes, the "MG prejudice" thing. If you'd been able to see the time,
money and effort that went into the MG side of TRF, you'd know that the "MG
prejudice" that some people speak of is totally baseless The only thing I
can think of that would have given some that idea is that the TRF staff was
VERY familiar and comfortable with Triumphs and Triumph customers. MG was a
whole, new ball game for them and they may have been a bit "stiff" due to
lack of familiarity with MGBs and MGB customers.
Bud Osbourne
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of RBHouston@aol.com
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 11:14 AM
To: "David Lieb"; spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: TRF
In a message dated 8/18/2003 8:17:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
dbl@chicagolandmgclub.com writes:
> That "English Tavern" that he kept hawking left a bit of a bad taste, too.
I
> always looked forward to receiving the "Moss Motoring" magazine; the
quality
> of the material more than justified the commercials. Runyon's ramblings,
> however, had little or no literary merit whatsoever and
> tended to get dumped
> unread.
I agree David. The catalogs and restoration guides they publish are very
good in my opinion, but Runyon is a little sold on himself.
The "English Tavern" appears to have really been a money loser. I didn't
like the idea of my parts $ going to finance his folly...a very expensively
built tavern in a very small town in PA. It might make sense in NY, LA, or
Dallas, but not in a small, rural, community.
Runyon did see the error of his ways and sold the tavern and in one catalog
I got was pledging to keep his mind on the core business and not get
sidetracked again.
For a while he was selling bags, brushes, and other things English at very
high prices (in my opinion) and had a go at having a Triumph owners club
that included discounts on his parts. The problems was (again, in my
opinion) the club was too costly to join for the benefits you received.
Still, he has some things, at least for TRs that no one else has. I think
he's also gotten over the MG predujice. Money has a way of making a person
more tolerant.
Robert Houston
Transervicios S.A. de C.V.
915-592-2082
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