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CSK Auto, Inc.
  • Checker
  • Schuck's
  • Kragen
  • Murray's
FormerlyNorthern Automotive (1987–1993)
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987) as Northern Automotive
DefunctJuly 11, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-07-11) (brands phased out and eliminated within 3 years of purchase)
FateAcquired by O'Reilly Auto Parts
HeadquartersPhoenix, Arizona, United States
Number of locations
1,349 (2008)[1]
Area served
Western United States
WebsiteArchive of CSK Auto corporate site at the Wayback Machine (archived July 27, 2008)

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.[1]

The company took its name from the initials of its three auto parts chains, Checker Auto Parts, Kragen Auto Parts, and Schuck's Auto Supply.[2]

Operations

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On January 29, 2006,[clarification needed] CSK had operated 1,273 stores[citation needed] in 22 states spanning from Hawaii to Ohio, with principal concentration of stores in the Western United States. CSK operated its stores under four brand names:

  • Checker Auto Parts, founded in 1969 in Phoenix, Arizona by Jacob Edward Henegar, with 442 stores[citation needed] in the Southwestern, Rocky Mountain, and Northern Plains states and Hawaii.
  • Schucks Auto Supply, founded in 1917, with 226 stores[citation needed] in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
  • Kragen Auto Parts, founded in 1947 by Al Kragen. Kragen Auto Parts had 493 stores,[citation needed] primarily in California.
  • Murray's Discount Auto Stores, founded in 1972, with 112 stores[citation needed] in the Upper Midwest.

In the mid-2000s, CSK operated five value concept retail stores under the Pay N Save brand name in and around Phoenix, Arizona. These stores sold primarily tools, hardware, sporting goods, housewares and other household goods, and seasonal items. To try and increase the tool business CSK built six stores that combined both auto parts and tools in Michigan, Colorado, Washington, and Arizona. The company ceased operations of the Pay N Save stores on August 26, 2007.

CSK sponsored major league baseball in major markets throughout its trade areas,[3] the 2Xtreme Racing monster truck team and the funny car driven by Del Worsham in the National Hot Rod Association. CSK was designated the Official Auto Parts Store of the NHRA.[4][5]

CSK served both the do-it-yourself ("DIY") and the commercial installer, or do-it-for-me ("DIFM"), customer. The DIY market, which comprises customers who typically repair and maintain vehicles themselves, was the foundation of the business. The DIFM market comprised auto repair professionals, fleet owners, governments and municipalities.

History

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CSK Auto was formed after a series of acquisitions in the auto parts space.

In October 1971, Lucky Stores acquired Kragen Auto Supply with its 11 stores in a stock swap.[6] Lucky also acquired Checker Auto Parts when it acquired Yellow Front Stores along with their corporate parent Valley Distributing for $45.9 million in stock in March 1978.[7]

In December 1983, the Pay 'n Save discount retail chain acquired Schuck's Auto Supply with its 58 stores.[8] The merger was finalized on January 1, 1984,[9] for $68.9 million in stock.[10] In September, Eddie and Julius Trump of The Trump Group (no relations to Donald Trump or The Trump Organization[11]) took control of the company.[12] The following year, Pay 'n Save began to divest its non-core businesses. In November 1985, Pay 'n Save spun off Bi-Mart, Lamonts, and Schuck's to form a new company, Northern Pacific Corporation.[13]

In early December 1986, Lucky Stores announced it was selling its Checker Auto Parts and Kragen Auto Parts subsidiaries to the Northern Pacific Corporation, which also operated Schuck's, for $155 million. The combined entity operated 95 Schuck's stores in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, 175 Kragen stores in California and Nevada, and 202 Checker stores across 12 Western states.[14] After the acquisition, the automotive division was briefly known as Checker/Schuck's/Kragen before becoming Northern Automotive.[15] The transaction was completed withn three weeks of the announcement.[16]

In February 1988, Northern Automotive acquired 252 Auto Works stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia from Perry Drug Stores. The deal also included an automated distribution center in Dayton, Ohio that would be used to expand the Schuck's brand into Kansas City, Missouri.[15] Northern Automotive later sold off the Auto Works chain with its 159 retail stores in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginia to Hahn Automotive Warehouse in November 1993 for $13 million in cash.[17][18]

In October 1996, Investcorp acquired a controlling interest in CSK Auto (formerly Northern Automotive)[19] after CSK failed to first go public in July 1996.[20][21] CSK announced in December 1997 that it had filed with the SEC to go public through an initial public offering.[22] The stock debuted in March 1998.[23]

CSK Auto experienced growth through a combination of acquisitions and a program of store construction and expansion.[24] In 1997, CSK acquired 81 Trak Auto stores in Southern California, converting them to the Kragen name and product mix.[25][26] This led to an extremely productive year in 1998, as annual sales broke the $1 (~$2.00 in 2023)-billion barrier for the first time, and the company opened, expanded, or relocated a total of 130 more stores.

In June 1999, CSK acquired 86 Big Wheel/Rossi Auto Parts stores in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.[27] By August, CSK Auto operated 926 stores in 17 states under the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen and Big Wheel/Rossi names.[28] In October, CSK completed its acquisition of 194 Al's and Grand Auto Supply stores in Washington, California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and Alaska.[29][30][31]

In January 2000, and Advance Auto Parts announced a partnership to launch PartsAmerica.com, an automotive parts and accessories e-commerce platform that served all 50 states.[32] To strengthen its position in the Northern Plains states, in April, CSK purchased All-Car Distributors, operators of 21 stores in Wisconsin and one in Michigan.[33][34] These stores operated under the Checker banner.

In December 2005, CSK acquired Murray's, Inc. and its subsidiary, Murray's Discount Auto Stores. The 110 Murray's automotive-part and accessory retail stores in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana retained the Murray's name and operating model.[35]

In September 2006, CSK announced it had dismissed its chief operating officer and its chief administrative officer, and chief executive Maynard Jenkins would retire, following an investigation that found irregularities in the company's accounting practices.[36] On March 5, 2009 the SEC filed a civil injunction against four former executives of CSK Auto. The employees were charged with accounting fraud for the years of 2002, 2003, and 2004.[37][38] In November 2011, Jenkins was ordered to give back $2.8 million in bonus and stock profits.[39]

On April 1, 2008, O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. signed a deal to acquire all of CSK's common stock for approximately one billion dollars, including $500 million (~$695 million in 2023) of debt. At the time of the announcement, CSK had a total of 1,349 stores in 22 states operating under the brand names Checker Auto Parts, Schuck's Auto Supply, Kragen Auto Parts, and Murray's Discount Auto Stores.[1] The acquisition was finalize on July 11, 2008.[40][41] Starting in 2009, O'Reilly gradually rebranded Checker Auto Parts, Schucks Auto Supply, and Kragen Auto Parts stores as O'Reilly Auto Parts stores during a multi-year process that was finally completed in 2011.[42]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Fineman, Josh (April 1, 2008). "O'Reilly Automotive to Buy CSK Auto for $528 Million". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "CSK Auto expects $100M from IPO". Discount Store News. 35 (15). New York. August 5, 1996. ProQuest 228406346. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  3. ^ "CSK Auto Offers 'Ultimate Baseball Road Trip'". Business Wire (Press release). June 25, 2007 – via The Free Library.
  4. ^ "NHRA sponsors". National Hot Rod Association. Archived from the original on 1999-08-24. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  5. ^ "NHRA sponsors". National Hot Rod Association. Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  6. ^ "Lucky Stores Acquisition Accord". Wall Street Journal. October 27, 1971. p. 14. ProQuest 133556307.
  7. ^ "Lucky Stores, Valley Distributing Agree On Merger Proposal". Wall Street Journal. March 31, 1978. p. 36. ProQuest 134360071.
  8. ^ "Pay'n Save Bid". The New York Times. December 8, 1983. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Schuck's Head Bullish On Pay 'n Save Merger". The New York Times. December 27, 1983. ProQuest 424849597. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "Pay 'n Save Corp. Acquires Schuck's Auto Supply Inc". Wall Street Journal. January 30, 1984. p. 12. ProQuest 135004986.
  11. ^ "Bid Withdrawn For Pay'n Save". The New York Times. September 13, 1984. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "Trump Group Lifts Pay'n Save Bid". The New York Times. September 14, 1984. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "Pay 'n Save divisions spun off". Seattle Times. November 1, 1985. p. D7. ProQuest 385148401.
  14. ^ "Lucky to Sell Car Parts Unit". The New York Times. December 2, 1986. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Halverson, Richard C. (February 15, 1988). "Schuck's Group buys Auto Works - Northern Automotive, formerly Checker-Schuck's-Kragen". Discount Store News. Archived from the original on May 18, 2005. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  16. ^ "Lucky Stores Inc. Sells Gemco, Checker Units For $595 Million". Wall Street Journal. December 24, 1986. p. 1. ProQuest 397986796.
  17. ^ "Business Brief -- Hahn Automotive Warehouse Inc.: Auto Works to Be Acquired From Northern Retail Corp". Wall Street Journal. November 1, 1993. ProQuest 395224619.
  18. ^ Hahn Automotive Warehouse 10Q. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Report). December 31, 1996.
  19. ^ "INVESTCORP AGREES TO BUY 51% OF CSK AUTO". The New York Times. October 9, 1996. ProQuest 2237546491. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  20. ^ "CSK Auto expects $100M from IPO". Discount Store News. Vol. 35, no. 15. August 5, 1996. p. 6. ProQuest 228406346.
  21. ^ "Specialty watch; CSK Auto aborts plan to go public". Discount Store News. Vol. 35, no. 20. October 21, 1996. p. 6. ProQuest 228411374.
  22. ^ "Auto Parts Seller CSK Plans Stock Offering". Los Angeles Times. 1997-12-31. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  23. ^ Chervitz, Darren (March 12, 1998). "IPO Daily Report: CSK Auto rises 18% in debut". Market Watch. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  24. ^ "Checker Auto to be bought by Schuck's". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. December 2, 1986. p. A13 – via Google News Archive.
  25. ^ "Trak Auto to Sell 80 California Stores". Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1997.
  26. ^ "CSK buys Trak Auto's So. Calif. stores". Phoenix Business Journal. December 10, 1997.
  27. ^ "CSK Auto Corporation Completes Acquisition of Big Wheel/Rossi Auto Parts Stores". The Auto Channel. July 1, 1999. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  28. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; CSK AUTO TO BUY PACCAR'S PARTS SUBSIDIARY". The New York Times. August 24, 1999. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  29. ^ "CSK Auto To Buy Paccar's Parts Subsidiary". The New York Times. August 24, 1999.
  30. ^ "CSK Auto Corporation to Acquire Grand Auto Supply and Al's Auto Supply". The Auto Channel. August 23, 1999.
  31. ^ Lane, Polly (August 23, 1999). "Eastside Business -- Paccar To Sell Auto-Parts Unit, Focus On Trucks". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  32. ^ "CSK Auto and Advance Auto Parts Partner With Sequoia Capital". Tech Monitor. 2000-01-09. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  33. ^ "CSK Auto Corporation to Acquire All-Car Distributors, Inc". The Auto Channel. March 13, 2000.
  34. ^ "CSK Auto Corporation to Acquire All-Car - ProQuest" (Press release). CSK Auto Corporation. March 13, 2000. ProQuest 449390401. Retrieved 2024-09-11 – via PR Newswire.
  35. ^ "CSK Auto Corp. Completes Purchase of Murray's Discount Auto Stores". Aftermarket News. December 20, 2005. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  36. ^ "Car Parts Maker Fires Officers After Inquiry". The New York Times. September 29, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  37. ^ "Martin G. Fraser, Don W. Watson, Edward W. O'Brien, and Gary M. Opper: Lit. Rel. No. 20933A / March 6, 2009". Securities and Exchange Commission. March 6, 2009. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  38. ^ "Complaint for Violations for of Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 - Case 2:09-cv-01510-JWS / July 22, 2009" (PDF). Securities and Exchange Commission. July 22, 2009. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  39. ^ Protess, Ben (2011-11-15). "S.E.C. Claws Back $2.8 Million From CSK Executive". DealBook. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  40. ^ "O'Reilly Auto completes exchange offer for CSK Auto". Chain Store Age. July 11, 2008.
  41. ^ "O'Reilly Acquires More Than 90 Percent of CSK Common Stock; Short Form Merger to Follow". Aftermarket News. July 14, 2008.
  42. ^ Bond, Andrew (April 29, 2011). "Can O'Reilly Keep Its Growth Up?". The Motley Fool.
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