Pep Boys adds stores in NYC, Philly metro areas

[APF 23]

http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/20170706/NEWS/170709985/pep-boys-adds-stores-in-nyc-philly-metro-areas

PHILADELPHIA — Pep Boys has acquired PJ's Auto & Tire Center in Franklin Square, N.Y., and opened a Service & Tire Center in Bordentown, N.J., increasing its presence in the New York and Philadelphia metro markets.

Pep Boys, a subsidiary of Icahn Automotive Group L.L.C., described PJ's Auto & Tire — a family-run business since 1980 — as a six-bay shop located in a high-traffic neighborhood in Franklin Square on Long Island.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Pep Boys did not elaborate on the status of the dealership's owners or staff.

The greenfield store in Bordentown also is a six-bay shop, Pep Boys said. Bordentown is a community of about 3,900 inhabitants bordering Trenton, N.J.

Both locations will use the Pep Boys Service & Tire Center identity.

Pep Boys now has 16 stores on Long Island and nearly 30 in the New York metro area. The new stores push Icahn Automotive's network of stores closer to the 1,500 mark.

This is Pep Boys' third acquisition of 2017.

In mid-May the Philadelphia-based retailer acquired Mathis Tire & Auto Service and Direct Tire Distributors in Memphis, establishing a retail position in that market for the first time with a dozen locations and a 6,000-unit warehouse.

In January Pep Boys bought Just Brakes L.L.C., an automotive repair and maintenance chain with 134 stores throughout the U.S. southern tier, and said it planned to convert those stores to the Service & Tire Center brand.