AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) is a retailer and distributor of automotive spare parts and accessories.[3] based in Memphis, Tennessee.

AutoZone, Inc. (AutoZone) is a retailer and a distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. As of August 28, 2010, the Company operated 4,389 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, and 238 in Mexico. Each of its stores carries a product line for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products. As of August 28, 2010, in 2,424 of its domestic stores and 173 of its Mexico stores, AutoZone also has a commercial sales program that provides delivery of parts and other products to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations and public sector accounts. AutoZone also sells the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic and repair software through . Additionally, it sells automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products through , and as part of its commercial sales program, . The Company does not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.
The Company o provides specialty tools through its Loan-A-Tool program. Customers can borrow a specialty tool, such as a steering wheel puller, for which a do-it-yourself (DIY) customer or a repair shop would have little or no use other than for a single job. AutoZoners also provides other free services, including check engine light readings where allowed by law, battery charging, the collection of DIY used oil for recycling, and the testing of starters, alternators, batteries, sensors and actuators.
All of the Company’s stores have Z-net, its electronic catalog that enables its AutoZoners to look up the parts that its customers need and to provide complete job solutions, advice and information for customer vehicles. Z-net provides parts information based on the year, make, model and engine type of a vehicle and also tracks inventory availability at the store, at other nearby stores and through special order. The Z-net display screens are placed on the hard parts counter or pods, where both the AutoZoner and customer can view the screen. AutoZone’s stores utilize its computerized Store Management System, which includes bar code scanning and point-of-sale data collection terminals.

As AutoZone continued its rapid and aggressive expansion, its revenues continued to rise as well. Total revenues increased from $535.8 million in 1989 to $1.216 billion in 1993, and they showed no signs of slowing down. To better serve customers, AutoZone in 1994 installed Flexogram, a satellite-based system designed to customize store inventory according to local demands and to facilitate communications between store locations. The company, which opened an average of 250 new retail stores a year, including its 1,000th store in 1995, did not slow its blistering pace in the 1990s.
Although AutoZone was quickly emerging as the industry's retail leader, the market was becoming increasingly competitive, and the company believed that restricting itself to selling only auto parts would limit its potential. It was for this reason that AutoZone began to aggressively explore new businesses and opportunities, especially through acquisitions. In 1996 AutoZone expanded its consumer target to include commercial customers, such as professional automotive technicians and service stations. The company introduced a commercial program that provided credit and delivery to mechanics and technicians. Also in 1996 AutoZone purchased ALLDATA Corp., a software company that developed automotive diagnostic and repair software.
In 1997 AutoZone opened its 1,500th store, and Hyde, who had seen AutoZone grow from a single small store in Arkansas to a national retail chain, stepped down as CEO. He was replaced by then COO Johnston Adams. Shareholder KKR sold its 13 percent share in the company in 1998, and by 1999 Hyde had divested the majority of his interest in AutoZone, although he continued to serve on the board of directors.
AutoZone made several important acquisitions in fiscal year 1998, which ended August 29, 1998. In February the company bought Auto Palace, a retailer with 112 stores in six states in the northeastern United States. The purchase allowed AutoZone to move easily into a new market, and within a year all Auto Palace shops had been converted to AutoZone stores. In May the company purchased TruckPro L.P., an independent U.S. distributor of heavy-duty truck parts that had 43 stores in 14 states. The acquisition provided AutoZone with a doorway into the truck parts business, a fragmented industry with no clear leader and thus similar to the auto parts industry when AutoZone had first begun. The company planned to strengthen TruckPro's business and make it the industry leader. At the end of June, AutoZone made a third acquisition, Chief Auto Parts Inc., with 560 outlets in five states. The acquisition significantly expanded AutoZone's presence in the critical California market by increasing the number of AutoZone stores in that state to about 400, up from one store the previous year.
Although AutoZone was busily involved with acquisitions, the company still managed to open 275 new AutoZone stores during fiscal 1998. At the commencement of fiscal 1999, in October, AutoZone made yet another acquisition by purchasing 100 Express stores from The Pep Boys--Manny, Moe & Jack. In December 1998 the company opened its first international store, in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, across the border from Texas. By the end of fiscal 1999 the company had opened five additional stores in Mexico and had remodeled and reopened 96 of the 100 Express stores as AutoZones. In addition, the company had also completed converting Chief Auto Parts stores into AutoZones, opened 167 new AutoZone stores, and opened three new TruckPro stores.
AutoZone was in strong shape as it celebrated its 20th anniversary. Sales in fiscal 1999 reached $4.12 billion, a 27 percent increase over 1998. The company planned to continue building its heavy-duty truck parts business and its commercial account division until AutoZone was the leader of both categories. The company also intended to continue seeking out new opportunities, particularly in international markets. Research by AutoZone pointed to international demand, and the company believed that international markets could support AutoZone stores comparable in number to those in the United States. In addition, to serve smaller U.S. communities that did not warrant full-size AutoZone stores, the company created a small-store prototype and planned to bring the total number of AutoZone outlets in the nation to more than 5,000.
Principal Subsidiaries: TruckPro L.P.; ALLDATA Corp.
Principal Competitors: Genuine Parts Company; The Pep Boys--Manny, Moe & Jack; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Advance Holding Company; CARQUEST Corp.


OVERALL
Beta: 0.46
Market Cap (Mil.): $11,919.24
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 42.21
Annual Dividend: --
Yield (%): --
FINANCIALS
AZO Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 16.73 4.62 8.93
EPS (TTM): 31.52 -- --
ROI: 30.36 4.25 0.90
ROE: -- 4.90 1.56

Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1979 as Auto Shack
Sales:$4.12 billion (1999)
Employees: 38,500
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: AZO
NAIC: 44131 Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores

Key Dates:

1979: Joseph R. Hyde III opens Auto Shack, a retail automobile parts store, in Arkansas.
1987: Auto Shack changes its name to AutoZone.
1989: On its tenth anniversary AutoZone opens its 500th store.
1991: AutoZone becomes a publicly traded company.
1995: The 1,000th AutoZone store opens.
1999: AutoZone expands into Mexico.


Name Age Since Current Position
Rhodes, William 45 2007 Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer
Giles, William 50 2007 Chief Financial Officer, EVP - Finance, Information Technology and Store Development
Goldsmith, Harry 59 2006 Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary
Bascom, Jon 53 2008 Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Pleas, Charlie 45 2007 Senior Vice President, Controller
Kranc, Lisa 57 2001 Senior Vice President - Marketing
Briggs, Timothy 49 2006 Senior Vice President - Human Resources
Graves, William 50 2006 Senior Vice President - Supply Chain
Newbern, Thomas 48 2007 Senior Vice President - Store Operations
Roesel, Larry 53 2007 Senior Vice President - Commercial
Finestone, Mark 49 2008 Senior Vice President - Merchandising
Olsen, Robert 57 2009 Corporate Development Officer, Mexico, ALLDATA
Graves, Earl 48 2009 Lead Director
Hyde, J. 67 2007 Director
McKenna, W. Andrew 64 2009 Director
Gove, Sue 52 2005 Independent Director
Mrkonic, George 58 2006 Independent Director
Ullyot, Theodore 43 2006 Independent Director
Grusky, Robert 53 2008 Independent Director
Crowley, William 53 2008 Independent Director
Nieto, Luis 55 2008 Independent Director


Address:
123 South Front Street
Memphis, Tennessee 38103-3607
U.S.A.
 
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