Company Snapshot: O'Reilly Automotive Inc.

Address:
233 S Patterson Ave
Springfield, MO 65802-2298

Telephone:
417 862-3333

Internet Homepage:
http://www.oreillyauto.com

Year Founded:
1957

Total Stores:
317

Total Annual Sales:
$5,788,816,000

Senior Executives:
David E. O’Reilly-Chairman
Charles O’Reilly- Vice Chairman
Gregory L. Henslee- CEO; Co-President
Ted F. Wise-  COO; Co-President

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc., announced record revenues and earnings for its year ended December 31, 2011.  Sales for the year increased $391 million, or 7%, to $5.79 billion from $5.40 billion for the same period one year ago.  Obviously, achieving record revenues during an economic climate as uncertain as ours is no simple feat.

O’Reilly Automotive is a company based on close relationships.  As can be seen through the listings of the senior executives above, though the company  is publicly traded, the O’Reilly family drives the company as it maintains the seats of power.  Interestingly, though not unique, this is one of the few nationally growing companies that boast Co-Presidents.  The close ties between the Chairmen and the Co-Presidents produce a valuable and sharp strategic focus which has helped the company grow through aggressive expansion as well as through major acquisition, most notably when the company went national with the addition of CSK Auto.

Four years ago, on April 1, 2008, O’Reilly Automotive signed a deal to acquire all of CSK’s common stock for approximately one billion dollars, including $500 million of debt.  O’Reilly began gradually rebranding the stores which gave CSK its name.  Checker Auto Parts, Schucks Auto Supply, and Kragen Auto Parts stores, as well as CSK’s final major acquisition, Murray’s Discount Auto Stores  became O’Reilly Auto Parts stores.   The acquisition of the 1,349 CSK units gave O’Reilly a true Western and thus a national presence.

The acquisition of CSK virtually coincided with the then perceived onset of the recession.  The Chain Store Guide database of Discount and Specialty Retailers reveals that at the end of December 2008, O’Reilly operated 3,285 locations.  Since then the smallest yearly gain in units was 136 in 2009, as the company has increased the size of its incremental growth annually.  The company ended 2011 with 3,740 locations and just announced that at the end of its first quarter at the end of March 2012, the company was operating 3,809 stores.  This focus indicates aggressive growth despite the uncertain economy with no end in sight.