Automotive part retailer

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Exterior of an O'Reilly Auto Parts store in Houston in Texas, United States. OrEILLYAutoPartsHouston.jpg
Exterior of an O'Reilly Auto Parts store in Houston in Texas, United States.
Interior of an Advance Auto Parts store in Virginia, United States. Advance Auto Parts interior.jpg
Interior of an Advance Auto Parts store in Virginia, United States.

An automotive part retailer is a retail business that sells automotive parts and related accessories to both consumers and professional repair shops, through physical stores and websites. [1] Some automotive parts retailers also offer customer support and services related to automotive maintenance and repair. [2]

Contents

The sector is often dependent on consumers' disposable income, and therefore affected by business cycles and economic conditions. [3]

History

The automotive parts industry in the United States began with the proliferation of automobiles as a common method of transportation. As the industry grew, small businesses came to be replaced by chains and retail networks. [4] General Motors was the first company in the industry to begin franchising in 1893. In 1909, Western Auto became the first retailer of aftermarket automotive parts in the United States. [5] In 1928, Genuine Parts Company as a distributor of automotive replacement parts, industrial parts and consumer supplies. Its largest component is NAPA Auto Parts. [6]

By the 1970s, large companies like Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone and O'Reilly Auto Parts dominated the market. Most of these also offered private label automotive products, which accounted over 50% of revenue in some cases. [4]

Demand for automotive parts correlates with the average age of vehicles on the road, and the price of fuel. [1] [7] When newer cars are more expensive or there are supply chain issues, consumers are more likely to keep and repair their existing cars, or purchase older used cars that require more regular repairs. [1] The average age of vehicles in the United States increased from the 6.5 years in 1980, to 8.5 years in 2000. [5]

2020 to present

Demand for auto parts can be affected by how much consumers travel for work, education and travel. During the COVID-19 pandemic, sales dropped rapidly, as did the stock price growth of many major US retailers during 2020. [8] The subsequent increase in road travel had the opposite effect; [1] unlike home improvement, furniture or grocery retailers, automotive parts retailers directly benefited from incremental increases in the number of consumers commuting to work or school. [8]

Major American retailers recorded high revenue, sales figures or operating margins in 2021 as a result of this trend, despite experiencing high inflation and supply chain pressures. [8] [9]

The average age of a vehicle in the US reached a record high of 12.1 years in 2021. [3] The price of gas rose sharply in 2022, causing volatility for the sector. [7]

By market

United States

An O'Reilly Auto Parts store in Michigan, United States. O'Reilly Auto Parts Ypsilanti.JPG
An O'Reilly Auto Parts store in Michigan, United States.

Automotive part retailing is a $300 billion industry in the United States. [1]

O'Reilly Auto Parts, Advance Auto Parts, CarMax and AutoZone are major players in the industry. [3]

Other retailers include:

Canada

Canada's automotive part retailers include Amsoil, Fountain Tire, Integra Tire & Auto Centres, PartSource and Tirecraft.

United Kingdom

Halfords is a major retailer in the United Kingdom, and owns National Tyres and Autocare and Ripspeed.

Demon Tweeks also operates in the UK market.

Europe

Several retailers operate in multiple European countries, including Euro Car Parts, Motrio, Nipparts, Autodoc and Oscaro. The Asian retailer Autobacs Seven also has stores in France.

Australia and New Zealand

A Supercheap Auto store in Queensland, Australia. Supercheap Auto Lawnton.jpg
A Supercheap Auto store in Queensland, Australia.

Repco and Supercheap Auto are major rivals in the Australian and New Zealand markets, targeting both consumers and trade customers. [10]

Autobarn is a smaller competitor, but outranked the major rivals for consumer satisfaction in Australia in 2018. [11]

Ultra Tune also has stores around Australia. [12]

Asia

Autobacs Seven operates in Asia, and also has stores in France.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Tire</span> Canadian retail company

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire, Mark's, FGL Sports, PartSource, and the Canadian operations of Party City. Canadian Tire acquired the Norwegian clothing and textile company Helly Hansen from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2018.

The automotive aftermarket is the secondary parts market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, equipment, and accessories, after the sale of the automobile by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to the consumer. The parts, accessories, etc. for sale may or may not be manufactured by the OEM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pep Boys</span> American automotive aftermarket service chain

Pep Boys is an American automotive aftermarket service chain. Originally named Pep Auto Supply, the company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1921 by Emanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, W. Graham "Jack" Jackson, and Moe Radavitz. Pep Boys is headquartered in the Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Auto</span> Former auto parts retail chain in US

Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories. It operated approximately 1200 stores across the United States. It was started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine and Don Abnor Davis. Pepperdine later founded Pepperdine University. Western Auto was bought by Beneficial Corporation in 1961; Western Auto's management led a leveraged buyout in 1985, leading three years later to a sale to Sears. Sears sold most of the company to Advance Auto Parts in 1998, and by 2003, the resulting merger had led to the end of the Western Auto brand and its product distribution network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NAPA Auto Parts</span> American automotive retailers cooperative

The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA), also known as NAPA Auto Parts, founded in 1925, is an American retailers' cooperative distributing automotive replacement parts, accessories and service items throughout North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big-box store</span> Physically large retail establishment

A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car dealership</span> Business which sells, buys, and trades new and/or used cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans

A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintenance services.

CSK Auto, Inc. was a specialty retailer of automotive parts and accessories in the western United States. CSK Auto became a publicly traded company in March 1998, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth. It was acquired in 2008 by O'Reilly Automotive.

Pay 'n Save was a retail company founded by Monte Lafayette Bean in Seattle, Washington, in 1940. Over the years, Pay 'n Save was the leading drugstore chain in Washington and was the owner of several Washington-based retailers, including Lamonts and Ernst. A 1984 sale of the company to The Trump Group and a 1986 attempt to transform the retailer into a bargain-basement merchandiser resulted in a loss of nearly $50 million. By 1988, Pay 'n Save was sold to Thrifty Corporation, who later sold the stores to PayLess Drug, who retired the Pay 'n Save name. As a result, most of the retailer's divisions were spun off as separate companies or shuttered. As of 2023, Pay 'n Save's membership discount chain, Bi-Mart, is the sole surviving division of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supercheap Auto</span> Australian automotive parts and accessories chain owned by Super Retail Group

Supercheap Auto is an Australian automotive parts and accessories retailer. It was founded in 1972, operating as a mail-order business and opened its first store in Brisbane in 1974. It now has 300 stores across Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autobacs Seven</span> Japanese automotive retailer

Autobacs Seven Co., Ltd. is a retailer of automotive parts and accessories based in Japan, with branches primarily in Asia and stores also located in France.

Trak Auto Corporation was an American retail chain specializing in automotive parts and accessories based in Landover, Maryland. Founded by Robert Haft in 1979, at its peak in 1993 it operated 333 stores around the United States under the Trak Auto, Super Trak, and Super Trak Warehouse concepts. A declining market, stiff competition, and management problems led to a steep decline and bankruptcy, with its remaining stores acquired by and converted to Advance Auto Parts in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genuine Parts Company</span> Auto/industrial/electronic parts

Genuine Parts Company (GPC) is an American service organization engaged in the distribution of automotive replacement parts, industrial replacement parts, office products and electrical/electronic materials. GPC serves numerous customers from more than 2,600 operations around the world, and has approximately 48,000 employees. It owns the NAPA Auto Parts brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carquest</span> American automotive parts chain

Carquest Corporation is an American automotive parts distribution network that is currently owned and operated by Advance Auto Parts via independent retailers associated with the network. As of October 4, 2014 Advance operated 5,305 stores, 109 Worldpac branches. Advance Auto Parts and Carquest Auto Parts employs approximately 75,000 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Reilly Auto Parts</span> American automotive parts company

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. is an American auto parts retailer that provides automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories to professional service providers and do-it-yourself customers. Founded in 1957 by the O’Reilly family, the company operates more than 6,000 stores in 47 states and Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advance Auto Parts</span> American auto parts retailer

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. is an American automotive aftermarket parts provider. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, it serves both professional installer and do it yourself (DIY) customers. As of April 2022, Advance operated 4,687 stores and 311 Worldpac branches in the United States and Canada. The company also serves 1,318 independently owned Carquest-branded stores in the U.S., Mexico, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and British Virgin Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monro Muffler Brake</span> American automotive holding company

Monro, Inc. is an automotive services company founded and headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S. As of 2021, Monro has 1,288 locations making them the second-largest automotive services company in North America after Driven Brands by number of locations and by revenue.

Auto Parts Warehouse (APW) is an American online retailer of automotive parts and accessories for cars, vans, trucks, and sport utility vehicles. Along with CarParts and JC Whitney, it was one of the flagship websites of CarParts, an American online provider of aftermarket auto parts, including collision parts, engine parts, and performance parts and accessories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bomgaars</span> American farm/ranch supply store

Bomgaars Supply Inc. is a retail chain of farm and ranch supply stores headquartered in Sioux City, Iowa. Bomgaars serves the Midwest, High Plains, and Rockies with stores in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Idaho and Texas. It is operated by the Bomgaars family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mavis Discount Tire</span>

Mavis Tire Supply LLC d/b/a Mavis Discount Tire is an American chain of automotive service centers headquartered in Millwood, New York. In 2021 it was purchased by BayPine LP for $6 billion. In 2021 it acquired 165 Tuffy Tire & Auto locations in the Midwest, South and Southeast. Tuffy had its headquarters in Toledo, Ohio. The combined companies company had 1,200 locations in 35 states. In 2023 the company acquired 595 NTB and Tire Kingdom retail locations from TBC. In 2023 the company was a primary sponsor for NASCAR race car driver Denny Hamlin.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Auto Parts Stores Add Digital Tools as More Cars Return to the Road". pymnts.com. PYMNTS. 3 March 2022.
  2. Gattorna, John; Jones, Theresa (1998). Strategic Supply Chain Alignment: Best Practice in Supply Chain Management. Gower Publishing, Ltd. p. 71. ISBN   978-0-566-07825-5.
  3. 1 2 3 Singhi, Rimmi (5 March 2022). "4 Promising Stocks in Spotlight From the Auto Retail Parts Industry". Yahoo. Yahoo Finance.
  4. 1 2 Sivakumar, A. (2007). Retail Marketing. Excel Books India. p. 199. ISBN   978-81-7446-575-7.
  5. 1 2 Michman, Ronald D.; Mazze, Edward M. (2001). Specialty Retailers: Marketing Triumphs and Blunders. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 207–212. ISBN   978-1-56720-342-4.
  6. Dunne, Patrick M.; Lusch, Robert F.; Carver, James R. (2013-01-29). Retailing. Cengage Learning. ISBN   978-1-285-54605-6.
  7. 1 2 "Economy Rising Gas Prices Cause Drivers to Defer Car Maintenance, Seek Discounts". PYMNTS. 8 March 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 Lee, Jinjoo (15 February 2022). "Auto-Parts Growth Story Still Adds Up". Wall Street Journal.
  9. "O'Reilly Automotive Rides Jump in Ship-to-Home, BOPIS". PYMNTS. 10 February 2022.
  10. Rogers, Claire (12 March 2013). "Big fish swallows Repco". stuff.co.nz.
  11. "Autobarn overtakes Supercheap Auto for Automotive store satisfaction". Roy Morgan. 20 July 2018.
  12. "Ultra Tune fined $2.6m for franchisee rort". SBS News. Retrieved 2022-04-25.