The 12-store Car Toys chain based in Texas is fully revamping its stores to focus on active demo experiences.
Each location now has a truck demo room featuring 5 LinksWell Tesla style head units and about 10 truck enclosures from Kicker, AudioControl and JL Audio (via special order). An adjacent room displays a Stinger head unit controlling multiple lighting sources.
“We’re probably the only store on the planet that has 6 total truck radios on display, that you can touch, feel and try before you buy. That was our whole mission; to allow ‘try before you buy,’” said Parcels. After about 6 to 8 months since completion, the truck rooms have driven up average ticket sales to the $2,500 range (installed) versus $1,600 to $1,800. Parcels compared the difference in an Android based, 12-inch truck radio versus more traditional smaller radios to “driving a 2027 Camaro versus a 1967 Camaro.”
The chain has revamped nearly every room in the stores. There are working rock lights, ambient interior and exterior lights on display in most of the rooms. It demos star light headliners. It added the Morel brand recently. “We have some pretty amazing things coming through the pipeline,” Parcels said.
Marine is a major category. “We decided to be ahead of the curve on marine so we have, in every location, full blown marine displays.” Demo radios are connected to rear tower and multiple CAN speakers from JL Audio and Kicker that can be switched on and off.
The road safety section is the next project for revamping.
We asked about the scope of the investment to redo the stores. Parcels said only, “Well, I’ll tell you…we had almost a full palette of vinyl that we purchased, which we got at a substantial discount because of how much we purchased. We redid every single panel, every single board in our rooms has been redone. We had a lot of carbon fiber; just old out-dated stuff. We got rid of it in all our rooms. It’s now beautiful.”
Wood shops are now in full swing. The old locations stressed prefab enclosures, and while Car Toys still promotes them, “We have such talented employees, we really have the saws burning compared to the past,” said Parcels.
He said the main strategy is to provide an experience. “That a family can come into our store and feel comfortable. We always want someone to ‘try before they buy it’…there’s a cost associated with that, but that’s what sets us apart from everyone else…We want clean bathrooms, a clean waiting area. We have uniforms, we’re dressed the same, the floors are vacuumed all the time and the windows are cleaned.”
Parcels and Chris Pritts, former senior managers at the original Car Toys, purchased a dozen Car Toys locations in Texas when the original 48-store Car Toys closed last October. Parcels’ son Cam has lead much of the design and construction of the new display rooms. Parcels’ son Troy handles inventory.
The 12 stores operate under the name CTX (we call it Car Toys Texas) and is licensed to operate in 15 states, including New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Hawaii.
See also https://www.ceoutlook.com/2025/12/09/big-expansion-plans-at-another-new-car-toys/
Top photo: LinksWell truck audio demo room
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