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Western Auto
Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories operating approximately 1,200 stores across the United States. Started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine and Don Abnor Davis, Pepperdine would later found Pepperdine University. Western Auto was purchased 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. After the demise of Western Auto, the company's corporate headquarters at 2017 Grand Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, was transformed into loft condominiums, the Western Auto sign remaining atop the building. The sign was relit in July 13, 2018.
Western Auto originally started as a mail order business for replacement auto parts. The first retail store was established in 1921, and grew quickly as automobiles became increasingly more common. At one point, there were over 1,200 company-owned stores nationwide, usually located in metropolitan areas, and more than 4,000 associate stores (private, franchised, "dealer" locations), usually located in small towns. The associate store program was the first of its type, pioneering the way for modern day franchise operations. The company had five regional distribution centers in the United States, with the North Carolina center serving stores in Puerto Rico.[citation needed]
In addition to the auto parts stores, Western also owned two middle-sized tire store chains, a mobile radio maker called Midland International, and Eva Gabor International Ltd., a wig supplier. (source: LA Times)
Western Auto was known for its private labelled Western Flyer Bicycle and Performance Radial GT tire brand. Other Western Auto private-labeled brands included Davis tires, Tough One batteries, TrueTone electronics, Citation appliances, Wizard tools, and Wizard typewriters — the latter as re-branded typewriters manufactured by Brother Industries of Nagoya, Japan. Western Auto was also the parent company of Auto America and Parts America stores, and acquired National Tire Warehouse (NTW) stores. They also used the Wizard name on outdoor equipment including lawn mowers, tillers, outboard engines and boats for a short time, along with automotive parts such as batteries and tires.[citation needed]
Sometime in the 1940s or 1950s,[vague] Western Auto started selling rifles and shotguns in its catalogues. As with other chains at the time, such as Sears, Roebuck and Co., Montgomery Ward, and J.C. Penney, Western Auto's firearms were sold under a proprietary brand name. Often called "store brand" firearms, they were produced by reputable name brand manufacturers, such as O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Remington Arms, Savage Arms, Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and High Standard Manufacturing Company. Western Auto firearms sold under the "Revelation" brand name, and were generally models from the brands Savage, Marlin Firearms, or Mossberg.[citation needed]
Other than markings, Revelation models were identical to standard production models. They were the most basic models produced by the various manufacturers, and featured plain birch or walnut stocks. However, metal bluing remained good and nearly all models were provided with iron sights and mounting provisions for scopes. Once valued lower than "name brand" equivalents, store-brand rifles, shotguns, and revolvers have essentially reached price parity with their more universal counterparts. Firearms were one of many lines added to the store in a product diversification effort. By the end of the 1950s Western Auto was similar to a Sears store, equipped with a catalog order center. Auto parts comprised a small percentage of the company's sales by the mid-1960s, and had nearly disappeared by the 1970s.[citation needed]
In 1961, Western Auto was sold to the Beneficial Finance Corporation. Beneficial retained ownership until 1985, when the company was purchased in a leveraged buyout led by Western Auto management and Wesray Capital Corporation.
In the early 1980s, in response to the success of Wal-Mart, Western Auto Retail converted all of the company-owned stores to what it called "FLAG" stores, which sold exclusively automotive parts and accessories. These stores were largely located in more urbanized areas much like their successors today. Western Auto Wholesale strongly urged its associate stores to become at least 50% automotive, but most refused because the customer base of their locations, in "small town America", demanded a wider range of merchandise.[citation needed] This disagreement by the associate stores would later save the company.[according to whom?][original research?][citation needed]
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Western Auto
Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories operating approximately 1,200 stores across the United States. Started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine and Don Abnor Davis, Pepperdine would later found Pepperdine University. Western Auto was purchased 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. After the demise of Western Auto, the company's corporate headquarters at 2017 Grand Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, was transformed into loft condominiums, the Western Auto sign remaining atop the building. The sign was relit in July 13, 2018.
Western Auto originally started as a mail order business for replacement auto parts. The first retail store was established in 1921, and grew quickly as automobiles became increasingly more common. At one point, there were over 1,200 company-owned stores nationwide, usually located in metropolitan areas, and more than 4,000 associate stores (private, franchised, "dealer" locations), usually located in small towns. The associate store program was the first of its type, pioneering the way for modern day franchise operations. The company had five regional distribution centers in the United States, with the North Carolina center serving stores in Puerto Rico.[citation needed]
In addition to the auto parts stores, Western also owned two middle-sized tire store chains, a mobile radio maker called Midland International, and Eva Gabor International Ltd., a wig supplier. (source: LA Times)
Western Auto was known for its private labelled Western Flyer Bicycle and Performance Radial GT tire brand. Other Western Auto private-labeled brands included Davis tires, Tough One batteries, TrueTone electronics, Citation appliances, Wizard tools, and Wizard typewriters — the latter as re-branded typewriters manufactured by Brother Industries of Nagoya, Japan. Western Auto was also the parent company of Auto America and Parts America stores, and acquired National Tire Warehouse (NTW) stores. They also used the Wizard name on outdoor equipment including lawn mowers, tillers, outboard engines and boats for a short time, along with automotive parts such as batteries and tires.[citation needed]
Sometime in the 1940s or 1950s,[vague] Western Auto started selling rifles and shotguns in its catalogues. As with other chains at the time, such as Sears, Roebuck and Co., Montgomery Ward, and J.C. Penney, Western Auto's firearms were sold under a proprietary brand name. Often called "store brand" firearms, they were produced by reputable name brand manufacturers, such as O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Remington Arms, Savage Arms, Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and High Standard Manufacturing Company. Western Auto firearms sold under the "Revelation" brand name, and were generally models from the brands Savage, Marlin Firearms, or Mossberg.[citation needed]
Other than markings, Revelation models were identical to standard production models. They were the most basic models produced by the various manufacturers, and featured plain birch or walnut stocks. However, metal bluing remained good and nearly all models were provided with iron sights and mounting provisions for scopes. Once valued lower than "name brand" equivalents, store-brand rifles, shotguns, and revolvers have essentially reached price parity with their more universal counterparts. Firearms were one of many lines added to the store in a product diversification effort. By the end of the 1950s Western Auto was similar to a Sears store, equipped with a catalog order center. Auto parts comprised a small percentage of the company's sales by the mid-1960s, and had nearly disappeared by the 1970s.[citation needed]
In 1961, Western Auto was sold to the Beneficial Finance Corporation. Beneficial retained ownership until 1985, when the company was purchased in a leveraged buyout led by Western Auto management and Wesray Capital Corporation.
In the early 1980s, in response to the success of Wal-Mart, Western Auto Retail converted all of the company-owned stores to what it called "FLAG" stores, which sold exclusively automotive parts and accessories. These stores were largely located in more urbanized areas much like their successors today. Western Auto Wholesale strongly urged its associate stores to become at least 50% automotive, but most refused because the customer base of their locations, in "small town America", demanded a wider range of merchandise.[citation needed] This disagreement by the associate stores would later save the company.[according to whom?][original research?][citation needed]