More parts, more locations

In November 2023, Aircraft Spruce (an AOPA Strategic Partner) moved its Wasilla, Alaska, operation to a new, larger facility in Palmer, Alaska. This May, the company acquired the parts distribution operations of Lyons, Wisconsin-based Wag-Aero. In July, Aircraft Spruce opened a new branch in Melbourne, Australia. And in October, the company moved its Fort Worth operation to a new, expanded facility in Roanoke, Texas, near Alliance Airport (AFW).

Rob Irwin, Aircraft Spruce’s vice president of marketing, explained the facility growth was necessary to keep up with customer demand—which is a positive indication of the health of general aviation. Aircraft Spruce’s rapid expansion has focused on the customer experience, with a goal of U.S. customers being able to receive orders within two days at the lowest possible shipping cost using strategically placed distribution facilities. “If we have a big battery, like a Concorde RG380, which probably weighs 75 to 100 pounds, the further you ship that, it gets pretty costly for us. So, the closer we can have that battery sitting there, it ends up as an advantage that we can serve the customer better, but we can also have less cost to do so,” said Irwin.

Referring to their previous Texas facility, Irwin said, “We’d been definitely noticing that the [Aircraft Spruce order and logistics] system wanted us to place orders, and we just couldn’t do it because we just didn’t have the physical inventory space to put it anywhere. So, expanding that facility will give us a lot of opportunity to properly have the right items in that market.”

In Alaska, Aircraft Spruce at first had slow growth after acquiring a Wasilla-based business in 2019, but “it seemed like once we were able to kind of let our system work and ship orders fast and get the products up there they needed, it took off and, again, we ran out of space,” Irwin said. “[Australia] is kind of a totally new venture for us,” he said. “We’ve never done anything this ambitious before.” Aircraft Spruce has been shipping parts to Australia for years, “but the business that we’re doing now is more of the odds and ends that these folks can’t get locally,” he said. “So, it’s not your core parts like we sell here, it’s specialty items. There’s just no local supplier for them, so they have to order from here. And when they have a box coming down, they might throw in a few other things, because they’re already paying shipping. We’ve realized that we have an existing customer base.”

Aircraft Spruce is focused on expanding its offerings, as demonstrated by the acquisition of the Wag-Aero parts business. “Another larger strategy is line acquisition,” said Irwin. “We feel that our value add is one-stop shop. And the way to really do that is to make sure that we’re offering as much as we can from these major manufacturers and smaller manufacturers to our customers.”

With all this growth, Aircraft Spruce hasn’t forgotten about the “specialty” in its name and continues to work with entrepreneurs who pitch niche parts for Aircraft Spruce to sell. “We carry some very specialized products and [our customers] know that we’re not just a distributor of Champion, Tempest, Goodyear, Michelin—the big boys—and that’s all,” said Irwin. “If you don’t want that, don’t come to us. I feel like that’s been something that we’ve been trying to continue to do, and year over year we’ve made some good strides on that.”

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