Type Private Key people Brent Windom (CEO) Founded 1921 | Number of locations 804 (2016) Website www.pepboys.com Parent organization Icahn Enterprises | |
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Industry Specialty retail and automotive repair and Tires Products Auto parts, service and tires CEO Anthony Brent Windom (4 Feb 2016–) Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Founders W. Graham (Jack) Jackson Subsidiaries Colchester Insurance Company Profiles | ||
Pep boys television commercial 1996
The Pep Boys: Manny, Moe & Jack, (branded and commonly abbreviated as Pep Boys) is an American full-service and tire automotive aftermarket chain.
Contents
Originally named Pep Auto Supplies, the first store was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1921 by Emanuel (Manny) Rosenfeld, Maurice L. (Moe) Strauss, W. Graham (Jack) Jackson, and Moe Radavitz.
Currently headquartered in the Philadelphia neighborhood of East Falls, Pep Boys operates over 800 stores and approximately 7,500 service bays in 35 states and Puerto Rico. Along with its wide range of vehicle maintenance and repair capabilities, the company also serves the commercial auto parts delivery market. It is also a seller of replacement tires in the United States and in 2005, it was named one of the 500 fastest-growing companies in the U.S.
Pep boys
History
The original "Pep Boys" were Emanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, Graham "Jack" Jackson, and Moe Radavitz, four friends who in August 1921 chipped in $200 apiece to open a single auto parts store. They dubbed it Pep Auto Supplies after noticing a shipment of Pep Valve grinding compound on the shelves.
That name was changed because of a policeman who worked near the store: Every time the officer stopped a car for not having an oil wick burning during nighttime hours, he would tell the driver, "Go see the boys at Pep" for a replacement. In 1923 on a trip to California, Moe Strauss noticed that many successful West Coast businesses used their owners' first names. One he liked in particular was a dress shop called "Minnie, Maude and Mabel's". As soon as Strauss returned to Philadelphia, the store's name was officially changed to "The Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack". (Radavitz had cashed out the previous year.)). Soon, the partners had commissioned the Manny, Moe and Jack caricatures that still serve as the company's logo. When Jackson left in 1925, his caricature was replaced with that of Moe's brother, Isaac (Izzy) Strauss. (The company name's reference to "Jack" remained unchanged.) No further changes were made to the logo until 1990, when Manny's cigar was removed.
By the early 1930s, Pep Boys had 40 stores in Philadelphia, and Manny's brother, Murray Rosenfeld, had opened the first West Coast Pep Boys store. In 1939, Izzy Strauss left to form his own auto supply business in Brooklyn, Strauss Stores, which later merged with Roth & Schlenger Home and Auto to form R&S Strauss, the ancestor of Strauss Discount Auto, later known as Strauss Auto, which closed its doors on June 4, 2012.
In 1946, Pep Boys went public, and Manny Rosenfeld became the company's first corporate president, a position he held until his death in 1959. Moe Strauss served as president from 1960 to 1973 and remained a member of the board of directors until his death in 1982. In 1986, Mitch Leibovitz became the first non-founding family member to be named company president. Manny's grandson, Stuart Rosenfeld, Pep Boys' vice president of distribution, is the only founding family member currently in company management. The Strauss and Rosenfeld families continued to control approximately one-fifth of the company's stock until the early 1990s.
Today
In 2006 major stockholders Barington Capital Group and Pirate Capital LLC, whose combined stake exceeds 25% of Pep Boys common stock, engineered a reorganization of the company's management and board of directors, citing a lack of strategy and need for change.
In May 2008, Pep Boys CEO Jeff Rachor left the company after 13 months to pursue a luxury automotive dealership venture with Michael Dell (founder of Dell). Chief Operating Officer Michael R. Odell replaced him as CEO.
On October 13, 2009, Pep Boys acquired tire retailer Florida Tire for $4.35 million. The acquisition gave Pep Boys ten service-and-tire centers in the Orlando market that generate sales of $14 million a year. Pep-Boys is also opening small service-only stores.
In April 2011, Pep Boys acquired seven stores from tire retailer Big O Tires. The acquisition gave Pep Boys service-and-tire centers in Washington, in the Pacific Northwest.
In May 2011, Pep Boys acquired tire retailer Big 10 Tires. The acquisition gave Pep Boys an additional eighty-five service-and-tire centers in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, including concentrations around Atlanta and Orlando.
In June 2011, Pep Boys acquired seven locations from automotive repair company My Mechanic. The acquisition gave Pep Boys additional locations in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area.
On January 29, 2012, Pep Boys announced that it had agreed to be acquired by The Gores Group, a Los Angeles-based private equity investment company, for $15 per share, or approximately $1 billion. But four months later, May 30, 2012, it was announced that the deal had fallen through.
On September 6, 2013, Pep Boys acquired seventeen Discount Tire Centers in southern California, enabling the company to boast, "Seventy-five percent of Los Angeles-area residents now live within three miles of Pep Boys."
On September 26, 2014, Michael O'Dell resigned as CEO and president. John Sweetwood became interim CEO.
On June 15, 2015, Scott P. Sider, group president of Hertz Corporation's Rent-A-Car Americas, became the company's new CEO.
On October 26, 2015, Bridgestone Tire Corp. agreed to purchase the company for $835,000,000.
On December 30, 2015, Philadelphia-based Pep Boys (PBY) said it terminated the previously announced acquisition deal with Bridgestone Retail Operations, a U.S. unit of Japan tire maker Bridgestone, and signed a merger agreement with a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises.
On February 4, 2016, Icahn Enterprises announced that it closed its acquisition of Pep Boys in an all-cash deal worth $18.50 per share or approximately $1.03 billion.
NASCAR sponsorship
Pep Boys began sponsoring NASCAR two-time Daytona 500 champion driver Sterling Marlin's No. 14 car owned by Ginn Racing in 2007. The company also sponsored the Pep Boys Auto 500, a race held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in October 2008 and 2009.