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By Counterman
Auto-Wares Group of Companies has named its 2021 Supplier of the Year award winners, recognizing six companies for outstanding performance and collaboration through the past year.
The awards were presented at the Auto-Wares Group of Companies year-end sales meeting. More than 300 people attended the virtual meeting.
BBB Industries received top honors, being named overall 2021 Auto-Wares Supplier of the Year.
The BBB team delivered outstanding performance in all categories, including sales, field support, marketing, fill rate and technology, despite all the challenges 2021 brought us.
“It’s a real honor to accept this award on behalf of the entire BBB team,” said Kim Nolan, BBB’s SVP of sales – traditional. “It was a year that presented some unique challenges for everyone, and we couldn’t be more pleased to receive this coveted award for the outstanding efforts of our entire team. A special thank-you to the entire Auto-Wares organization for supporting BBB and embracing our products and programs in all the product categories we supply. You push us to be better and for that we are grateful.”
Other Auto-Wares supplier award winners included:
Rising Star Supplier of the Year – Sunsong Data & Technology Supplier of the Year – Dorman Sales & Marketing Supplier of the Year – DRiV Rep of the Year – Cindy Ford, SMP; Corbin Coons, DRiV; Patrick Mulrooney, NA Williams Auto-Wares leadership and stores and sales teams voted on the awards.
“Auto-Wares could not be more proud in awarding the Supplier of the Year award to BBB industries for their continued hard work and dedication to the aftermarket and Auto-Wares, and congratulations to all of this year’s award-winning suppliers.” Tim Stone, director of product at Auto-Wares.
The post Auto-Wares Announces 2021 Suppliers Of The Year appeared first on Counterman Magazine.
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By Counterman
AASA’s president and CEO, Paul McCarthy, recently announced multiple promotions within the association in recognition of hard work, professional development and dedication to the automotive aftermarket.
Ben Brucato, a 20-year industry veteran, has been promoted to vice president of engagement. Brucato has led multiple teams, including marketing, sponsorships and membership, during his time with AASA. He is lead over the Overseas Automotive Council, Modern Industry eXpertise Council and Marketing Executives Council, and specializes in member acquisition, engagement and retention.
Megan Gardner, with more than two decades of marketing and automotive-industry experience, has been promoted to senior director of sales and marketing. Gardner oversees the AASA marketing team, is lead over the OE Service Council, owns sponsorship and marketing responsibilities and supports government advocacy efforts.
Elizabeth Goad, with more than 10 years of tenure with AASA, has been promoted to senior director of events and meetings. Goad executes more than 90 events annually, including conferences, webinars and council meetings, and leads AASA and MEMA‘s activities as co-owner of AAPEX, which is one of the world’s largest aftermarket gatherings.
“We are honored to announce these promotions to kickoff 2022,” McCarthy said. “These three team members continuously exude qualities of strong leaders that contribute to a healthy and successful organization. Ben, Megan and Liz have worked diligently to connect members to what matters and have helped make AASA and the automotive aftermarket a better place for all of our members.”
For more information on AASA, click here.
The post AASA Announces Multiple Promotions appeared first on Counterman Magazine.
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By Auto News
SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Jan. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (the “Company” or “O’Reilly”) (Nasdaq: ORLY), a leading retailer in the automotive aftermarket industry, announces the release date for its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 results as Wednesday, February 9, 2022, with a conference call to follow on Thursday, February 10, 2022.
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By Counterman
AutoZone reported net sales of $3.7 billion for its first quarter of fiscal-year 2022, a year-over-year increase of 16.3%.
Domestic same-store sales for the quarter, which ended Nov. 20, were up 13.6%.
AutoZone’s DIFM sales in the United States grew by a whopping 29.4% to $900 million – a first-quarter record for the company, according to CEO Bill Rhodes. Over the past four quarters, DIFM sales totaled $3.5 billion, a 27% increase compared to $2.8 billion over the four quarters before that.
During a Dec. 7 conference call with analysts, Rhodes attributed AutoZone’s DIFM strength to a number of factors, including the company’s addition of hub and megahub stores with expanded product assortments, technology investments, competitive pricing and improved delivery times.
“Many people want to understand what’s driving our tremendous sales growth in commercial,” Rhodes said during the call. “In short, it’s not one thing. It’s a whole host of key initiatives we’ve been working on for several years.”
DIFM revenue represented 25% of AutoZone’s total sales in the first quarter. Weekly domestic DIFM sales per store were up 25% to $14,400 – a company record – compared to $11,500 in the first quarter of fiscal-year 2021. According to CFO Jamere Jackson, AutoZone launched 32 new net commercial programs in its U.S. stores in the first quarter, bringing the total to 5,211 programs.
“The disciplined investments we’re making are helping us grow [market] share, and we’re making tremendous progress in growing our business in this highly fragmented portion of the market,” Jackson said during the call. “We now have a commercial program in approximately 86% of our domestic stores, and we’re focused on building our business with national, regional and local accounts.”
Jackson reiterated that AutoZone is “doubling down” on its megahub strategy. Megahub stores typically carry around 100,000 SKUs, and “drive tremendous sales lift inside the store box as well as serve as a fulfillment source for other stores,” Jackson said.
Currently, AutoZone has 62 megahub stores, and expects to open approximately 16 additional megahubs in fiscal-year 2022.
“The expansion of coverage and parts availability continues to deliver a meaningful sales lift to both our commercial and DIY businesses,” Jackson said. “And we’re testing greater density of megahubs to drive even stronger sales results. By leveraging sophisticated predictive analytics and machine learning, we’re expanding our market reach, driving closer proximity to our customers and improving our product availability and delivery times.”
During the conference call, Rhodes pointed out that the megahubs “continued to exceed our expectations.” While the company has publicly stated that its near-term goal is to establish 100 to 110 megahubs, senior executives believe “once we’re finished, we’ll be closer to 200 megahubs,” Rhodes added.
Still, Rhodes emphasized that megahubs are just one important element in AutoZone’s overall growth strategy.
“A lot of people think that this success that we’re seeing in commercial is either driven by the megahubs or driven by pricing. And frankly, that’s not what we believe,” Rhodes explained. “We talked about it about four years ago that we were developing a new strategic plan for our commercial business, and it has a whole host of elements. Megahubs is a critical part of it. But don’t forget, we also refreshed the assortments in every single AutoZone store in the United States and put those assortments commercial-leaning forward.
“The megahubs are helping us a tremendous amount, but so is the Duralast brand. So is our sales floor. So is the engagement of our store managers and district managers.”
DIY Sales Up 9%
On the DIY side of the business, domestic sales were up 9% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
“The business has been remarkably resilient as we have gained and maintained over three points of market share since the start of the pandemic,” Jackson asserted during the conference call.
Jackson attributed the increase in DIY sales to a number of factors, including competitive pricing, improved product assortments and expanded product availability via the company’s growing network of hub and megahub stores.
“These dynamics, along with favorable macro trends and miles driven, a growing car parc and a challenging new- and used-car sales market for our customers, have continued to fuel sales momentum in DIY,” Jackson said. “And the execution of our AutoZoners who are taking care of our customers gives us a key competitive advantage.”
Regarding the widespread supply chain challenges in the automotive aftermarket and many other industries, Jackson noted that AutoZone’s in-stock positions are “still below where we would like them to be.” However, he company’s supply chain and merchandising teams “have made great progress in a challenging supply chain environment.”
“We’ve been able to navigate supply and logistics constraints, and have product available to meet our customer’s needs,” he added. “DIY has been a strong contributor to the growth of our company, and while comps are difficult because of our strong past performance, the fundamentals of our business remain strong.”
Rhodes touched on another potential challenge for the automotive aftermarket: inflation. In the first quarter, AutoZone saw a 4% year-over-year sales boost from inflation, while the company’s cost of goods was up around 2%.
“We believe both numbers will be higher in the second quarter as cost increases in many key merchandise categories continue to work their way through the system,” Rhodes added. “We could see mid-single-digit inflation in retails as rising raw-material pricing, labor and transportation costs are all impacting us and our suppliers. We have no way to say how long this will last, but our industry has been disciplined about pricing for decades and we expect that to continue.”
The post AutoZone: DIFM Strength Drives 16% Sales Jump In Fiscal Q1 appeared first on Counterman Magazine.
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By Counterman
AutoZone will build a new distribution center in Chowchilla, California, the company announced on Dec. 16.
AutoZone expects to begin construction in the summer of 2022 for a projected opening in 2024, according to a news release from the city of Chowchilla.
The distribution center will bring at least 280 jobs to Chowchilla, a community of 19,000 residents that’s about a two-hour drive from San Jose.
“With more than 640 stores across the state of California, we are very excited to be a part of the Chowchilla community,” AutoZone CEO Bill Rhodes said. “During our process to identify our next distribution-center location, Chowchilla’s leadership team has been amazing and has helped solidify our decision to come and be an integral part of this great community. Our significant investment in Chowchilla represents our commitment to always putting our customers first and is an important part of our strategy for accelerated growth.”
Chowchilla is located at the intersection of two major highways. Highway 152 serves as the gateway to the Bay Area, and Highway 99 links together the major cities within the San Joaquin Valley. Chowchilla boasts 2,800 acres of land zoned for industrial and commercial development, ready for building or occupancy, according to the city.
“We are very excited for this new development and what it means for the city of Chowchilla and the people who live here,” said Mayor John Chavez. “We needed a way to create new jobs for the community, so they do not have to commute outside our city for work, and they can spend more time with their families.”
The post AutoZone To Build New DC In Chowchilla, California appeared first on Counterman Magazine.
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