Pickers Self-Service Auto Parts in Texarkana, Arkansas, played host to various mechanics Saturday taking advantage of a special promotion on a hot summer day.
"Everything you can fit in a five-gallon bucket, not to exceed the handle, two buckets per customer, you got each bucket of parts for $19.99," said Jaclyn Szydelko, manager.
About 300 customers eventually made the rounds through the well-organized yard, with cars lined up in neat rows, organized for the yard personell helping customers to find what they were looking for.
"We do this promotion periodically to move merchandise," she said. "Like our previous 'Pull Your Own' promotion, this one is the first of its kind we have held since the COVID shutdown."
Szydelko said this promotion attracted a different crowd of auto enthusiasts.
"The pull-your-own crowd are heavy lifters," she said. "They generally don't come to this one. This is a bit more of a tinker crowd. Less shade-tree mechanics, more 'fixing it for the old lady' crowd."
Szydelko described the customers of Pickers as "salt of the earth."
"We have the friendliest customers," she said. "Also, Facebook and social media have been a big help in getting the word out about us and these kinds of events."
Mike James of Texarkana, Texas, whom Szydelko describes as a "regular," was filling a pair of buckets with car parts. Particularly of interest to him was a strut from a Buick Le Sabre.
"I do enjoy working on cars," he said. "Shade-tree mechanics are still with us. I do save money doing this and I enjoy working on cars. It is peaceful, focused, just you and the task. You get your car back the same day, too."
Pickers is at 5512 E. Ninth St.