RacingJunk Sold; Headquarters To Stay In North Adams

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — iBerkshires.com's big sister RacingJunk.com, the world's largest online motorsports marketplace, has been sold with two affiliated motor-sports sites to Internet Brands, based in California.

The three websites, RacingJunk.com, CollectorCarNation.com and Sprocketlist.com, will continue to be managed and staffed from their current base of operations in North Adams.

"The sale of RacingJunk.com to Internet Brands is going to infuse it with what it needs to scale it to the next level, while keeping the company here in North Adams," said Osmin Alvarez, president and chief executive officer of Raceway Media, and publisher of iBerkshires.com under the Boxcar Media brand. "Becoming part of the Internet Brands network of websites will provide RacingJunk and its sister websites great growth opportunities in terms of branding and membership.

"And since the RacingJunk offices will stay here in North Adams, we're anticipating opportunities for job growth as the websites continue to grow."

RacingJunk.com was created in 1999 by Paul Renaud of Clarksburg and Ryan Maturski of Pownal, Vt., and purchased by Raceway Media in 2003. It provides free online classifieds for performance enthusiasts, with an average of 70 million page views every month and more than 600,000 registered members. RacingJunk.com subsequently inspired the two additional websites, CollectorCarNation.com and Sprocketlist.com, which offer free online classifieds for collector-car enthusiasts and powersports equipment buyers.

Internet Brands owns and operates more than 200 websites, including more than 125 automotive-related sites, with over 90 million unique visitors per month. Founded in 1998, the company was listed on NASDAQ for three years until going private again in 2010 when it was acquired for approximately $640 million by an affiliate of private equity investment firm Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VI.

"We are incredibly excited to add the RacingJunk properties and its team to our Automotive Group," said Alvin Fong, vice president and general manager of Internet Brands. "RacingJunk will continue to focus on building a world-class classified platform that will enable car enthusiasts to fuel their passions."

Reflecting on the sale, Alvarez said, "While it's a little bittersweet to say goodbye to these sites after nine years of watching them grow, it's great to be able to turn them over to a company with the resources to help them have even more success. I also expect that there will be ongoing opportunities for job growth as the sites continue to develop under Internet Brands."

He expected that there will be more jobs gained as Internet Brands transitions the sites, including two — general manager of online operations and a product manager — currently posted on BerkshireJobs.com. "All of the current employees will still be located at 106 Main St.," he said.

The sale has required some shifting of resources and the offices for iBerkshires.com and its affiliated sites have moved to the west end of 106 Main St., which provides more room for expansion.

"The only affect on iBerkshires is the addition of resources to help continue the growth we have experienced over the past few years," said Alvarez.


Tags: Boxcar Media,   iBerkshires,   Internet,   Raceway Media,   

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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.

Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.

We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.

In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.

Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear. 

The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.

"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."

Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.

In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.

The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.

"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.

They are hoping their display carries on the tradition of the Arnold Family Christmas Lights Display that retired in 2022.

The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.

In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.

"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said. 

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