Recently, my cousin John visited me from out of state. As he approached Brisbane, he had a puncture in one of the tyres of the trailer he was towing. By the time he found somewhere to pull over, the tyre was shredded and the wheel ruined. His rather dodgy spare got him to my place, before deflating.
We realised that more than a new tyre was needed as the wheel was dodgy too. The wheels on the trailer were old car wheels, Holdens to be exact. So I took John to a wreckers yard at Archerfield. It was one I had found to be good to use and the staff helpful.
Those staff advised that these old Holden wheels were not available at wreckers but one street over was a business that sold trailer parts. And so it did but the wheel John wanted was not in stock and could not be gotten in until Tuesday. However, another business one more street over would have them. And it did. It had a big pile of wheels with tyres on already, at a good price. Probably, Chinese cheapies but they were perfect for John. Problem solved.
I do not know if the business just sold what we bought or sold other different tyres as well. Did not see.
Archerfield is one of those places that has big clusters of businesses to do with cars, trucks, tyres, plumbing, welding, … and God knows what else. If you have a need there will be a business that meets it. As a former office worker who worked in big government and big business this is not my world but, whenever I enter it, I am fascinated. It is lean and efficient and agile. No waste. I am impressed by the knowledge of the people. May of them would not have finished school let alone gone to university but they know their stuff. (It is also a male world.)
John and I had a ball in this world.
I have not always been a great admirer of small business, seeing them as just a bunch of tax-dodgers, but I was wrong. These small to medium business meet a huge need. What they do could not be done by big business or government. Nor by capitalism nor socialism
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