Pep Boys is one of the famous automotive aftermarket service chains in the United States. Well, initially it went by the name of Pep Auto Supply. Famous personalities like Emanuel “Manny” Rosenfield, Maurice “Moe” Strauss, and a few others founded this company in the year 1921. The company’s headquarters is in the Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Well, the company provides various popular brands of tires.
At the same time, they provide services of automotive maintenance and repair to customers all over the United States. Moreover, as of 2016, the company operated more than 9000 service bays in 35 states and Puerto Rico. In addition to this, the Pep Boys Mobile Crew service trailer offers automotive maintenance on location. So, in today’s article, we shall discuss some of the interesting aspects of Pep Boy. Stay tuned to us until the end to know their details. Let’s take a glance!
Some Historical Details About The Pep Boys
As we said earlier, four friends founded this company in August 1921. They were personalities like Emanuel “Manny” Rosenfield, Maurice “Moe” Strauss, Graham “Jack” Jackson, and Moe Radavitz. We came to know from some of their interviews that they chipped in $200 apiece to open a single auto parts store. At this time, they dubbed it Pep Auto Supply Company. Well, this was after noticing a shipment of Pep Valve grinding compound on the shelves.
So, the name of the company emerged in pieces. Do you know the name “The Pep Boys” came from a policeman who worked near the store? Well, there is also a funny story behind it. You might not know, but every time the officer stopped a car for driving without lights during nighttime hours, he would tell the driver, “Go see the boys at Pep” for a replacement oil wick. These were used as automotive headlights before switching to electrical headlamps. Later on, the company’s official also came to be known as “The Pep Boys” all over the world.
As per the sources, later on, the partners started opening their businesses and settling down separately. So they made several changes to the logo of the company whenever one of the partners left. Moreover, within three years, Pep Boys of California had opened 11 stores.
What Is The Present Condition Of The Pep Boys?
Well, many of you are probably curious to find out about the present status of The Pep Boys company. Let us find out. As per the sources, in January 2003, Mitch Leibovitz announced his retirement. So at that time, the other founders named the Canadian book retailer Chapters as the new CEO. He remained in that position until the two largest shareholders pressured him to resign from the post in 2006. Later, in 2007, Jeffrey C. Rachor became the CEO.
Moreover, in October 2009, Pep Boy acquired the retailer Florida Tire. This gave the company ten services and tire centers in the Orlando market. Later on, in 2011, Pep Boys acquired seven stores from the famous tire retailer Big O Tires. This acquisition further helped them grow their business. It led to an additional 84 service and tire centers in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
In addition, in 2017, Pep Boy acquired Just Brakes. This was a 134-store automotive repair and maintenance chain. It became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pep Boys.
Who Are The Present Owners Of The Pep Boys?
In the year 2019, Icahn Enterprises owned and operated Pep Boys. They announced new fleet-specific Pep Boys Mobile Crew vehicles to provide on-location maintenance and repair. After our research, we came to know that Pep Boy began to split parts and services in the year 2021 into two separate companies. Even though service would remain with Pep Boys parts will be operated by Auto Plus Auto Parts. They have separate leaderships. Moreover, Auto Plus operated multiple independent and branded buildings along with some other locations of Pep Boys.
As of 2022, all buildings carry the name of Pep Boy despite Auto Plus operating inside. In 2023, Auto Plus also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and they wanted Pep Boy to open up their separate company. So, in February 2023, Scott Collette became the new CEO of Pep Boy. However, their present CEO is David Willetts, and Scott Collette has taken up the post of COO.
Ending Note
So as we conclude, we can say that Pep Boys is one of the most famous automotive aftermarket services in the United States. Even though the founders are no longer present in the company, it still retains its popularity and goodwill even today. You can take a look at the above article to know all the unknown facts about this company.
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