CSK Auto

CSK Auto, Inc.

Logo of CSK Auto
Trade name	Checker Schuck's Kragen Murray's
Formerly	Northern Automotive (1987–1993)
Founded	1987 (1987) as Northern Automotive
Defunct	Template:End date and age (brands discontinued within three years following acquisition)
Fate	Purchased by O'Reilly Auto Parts
Headquarters	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Number of locations	1,349 (2008)
Area served	Western United States
Website	Archived CSK Auto corporate website at the Wayback Machine (archived July 27, 2008)

CSK Auto, Inc. functioned as a specialized retailer of automotive parts and accessories primarily serving the western United States. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, the company went public in March 1998 and expanded through both acquisitions and internal growth. In 2008, it was acquired by O'Reilly Automotive. The company's name derived from the initials of its three main auto parts chains: Checker Auto Parts, Kragen Auto Parts, and Schuck's Auto Supply.

Operations

As of January 29, 2006,Template:Fix/category CSK operated a total of 1,273 storesTemplate:Fix/category across 22 states stretching from Hawaii to Ohio, with the majority located in the Western United States. The retail outlets were managed under four distinct brand names:

• Checker Auto Parts, established in 1969 in Phoenix, Arizona by Jacob Edward Henegar, with 442 locationsTemplate:Fix/category serving the Southwestern, Rocky Mountain, Northern Plains regions, and Hawaii.
• Schucks Auto Supply, founded in 1917, operating 226 storesTemplate:Fix/category throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
• Kragen Auto Parts, launched in 1947 by Al Kragen. This chain maintained 493 storesTemplate:Fix/category, primarily within California.
• Murray's Discount Auto Stores, created in 1972 with a presence of 112 storesTemplate:Fix/category concentrated in the Upper Midwest.

During the mid-2000s, CSK also ran five value-oriented retail outlets under the Pay N Save brand near Phoenix, Arizona. These locations specialized mainly in tools, hardware, sporting goods, housewares, seasonal merchandise, and other household products. To bolster its tool sales segment, CSK developed six hybrid stores combining auto parts and tools across Michigan, Colorado, Washington, and Arizona. The Pay N Save stores were discontinued on August 26, 2007.

CSK supported major league baseball teams within key markets throughout its operational regions, as well as sponsoring the 2Xtreme Racing monster truck team and Del Worsham's funny car in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The company held the designation of Official Auto Parts Store for the NHRA.

The company catered to both do-it-yourself ("DIY") consumers—who typically perform vehicle maintenance themselves—and commercial installers or "do-it-for-me" ("DIFM") clients. The DIY segment formed the core customer base for CSK’s operations. Meanwhile, the DIFM category included professional auto repair shops, fleet operators, government entities, and municipal agencies.

Retail History

CSK Auto emerged through a succession of acquisitions within the automotive parts industry.

In October 1971, Lucky Stores completed a stock exchange acquisition of Kragen Auto Supply, which operated 11 locations. Later, in March 1978, Lucky expanded its portfolio by acquiring Checker Auto Parts as part of its purchase of Yellow Front Stores and their parent company, Valley Distributing, for $45.9 million in stock.

The Pay 'n Save discount retail chain took over Schuck's Auto Supply, comprising 58 stores, in December 1983. This merger was officially closed on January 1, 1984, with Pay 'n Save paying $68.9 million in stock for the acquisition. By September 1984, Eddie and Julius Trump of The Trump Group (unrelated to Donald Trump or The Trump Organization) assumed control of Pay 'n Save. The following year, Pay 'n Save began divesting from non-core operations; in November 1985, it spun off Bi-Mart, Lamonts, and Schuck's into a new entity called Northern Pacific Corporation.

In early December 1986, Lucky Stores announced the sale of its Checker Auto Parts and Kragen Auto Parts subsidiaries to Northern Pacific Corporation—owner of Schuck's—for $155 million. Post-acquisition, the combined enterprise managed 95 Schuck's outlets across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho; 175 Kragen locations in California and Nevada; and 202 Checker stores spread over twelve Western states. Initially named Checker/Schuck's/Kragen, the automotive division soon rebranded as Northern Automotive. This transaction was finalized within three weeks after the announcement.

Northern Automotive further expanded in February 1988 by purchasing 252 Auto Works stores from Perry Drug Stores across Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia. The deal also included an automated distribution center in Dayton, Ohio, facilitating the Schuck's brand expansion into Kansas City, Missouri. However, by November 1993, Northern Automotive divested the Auto Works chain—comprising 159 retail outlets in several Midwestern states—to Hahn Automotive Warehouse for $13 million cash.

In October 1996, Investcorp acquired a controlling stake in CSK Auto (the successor to Northern Automotive) after CSK's initial public offering plans fell through earlier that year. Subsequently, in December 1997, CSK filed with the SEC to proceed with an IPO; its stock debuted publicly in March 1998.

CSK Auto's growth strategy combined acquisitions with store development projects. In 1997 alone, it purchased 81 Trak Auto stores located in Southern California and rebranded them under the Kragen name and product line. This expansion contributed to a landmark year in 1998 when annual sales surpassed the $1 billion threshold for the first time; during that year CSK opened, expanded, or relocated approximately 130 stores.

By June 1999, CSK had acquired 86 Big Wheel/Rossi Auto Parts outlets operating in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. By August of that year, CSK operated a total of 926 stores across seventeen states under multiple banners: Checker, Schuck's, Kragen, and Big Wheel/Rossi. In October 1999, CSK completed another significant acquisition by purchasing 194 Al’s and Grand Auto Supply stores spanning Washington, California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and Alaska.

In January 2000, CSK partnered with Advance Auto Parts to launch PartsAmerica.com—an online platform providing automotive parts and accessories nationwide. To bolster its presence in the Northern Plains region further, CSK acquired All-Car Distributors in April 2000; this company operated 21 stores in Wisconsin and one in Michigan under the Checker brand.

CSK continued expanding through acquisitions such as Murray’s Inc., which it purchased in December 2005 along with its subsidiary Murray’s Discount Auto Stores. The acquisition added 110 retail locations across Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana while maintaining Murray’s branding and operational approach.

In September 2006, CSK dismissed its chief operating officer and chief administrative officer amid an investigation revealing accounting irregularities; CEO Maynard Jenkins subsequently retired. On March 5, 2009, the SEC filed civil charges against four former CSK executives alleging accounting fraud covering fiscal years 2002 through 2004. Later that year in November 2011, Jenkins was ordered to return $2.8 million related to bonuses and stock gains.

On April 1, 2008, O'Reilly Automotive announced an agreement to acquire all outstanding common shares of CSK for roughly one billion dollars—including approximately $500 million of debt at that time. CSK operated a total of 1,349 stores across twenty-two states under the Checker Auto Parts, Schuck’s Auto Supply, Kragen Auto Parts, and Murray’s Discount Auto Stores brands at acquisition announcement. The deal closed on July 11, 2008. From 2009 through to completion in 2011, O'Reilly gradually phased out the Checker Auto Parts, Schuck’s Auto Supply, and Kragen Auto Parts names by rebranding those locations as O'Reilly Auto Parts stores during a multi-year transition process.

External links

• O'Reilly Auto Parts
• Archived CSK Auto corporate website at the Wayback Machine (archived July 27, 2008)