O'Reilly Auto Parts puts pedal to metal

Today, the 1957-founded company fills 552,000 square feet of space in Springfield alone, according to Investor Relations Coordinator Michelle Everett – 441,000 square feet of distribution center, and 111,000 of office space at two buildings on South Patterson and on one and a half floors of the Frisco Building, 3253 E. Chestnut Expressway.

The company has been experiencing growth for more than two decades.

In 1977, O’Reilly had 15 stores and 209 team members.

Fast forward to 1987 when there were 86 stores and 742 team members. O’Reilly Auto Parts now has 1,300 stores and more than 18,000 team members in 24 states.

This year, O’Reilly opened its 11th distribution center, a 350,000-square-foot facility in Atlanta with the capacity to service up to 250 stores.

Company officials say a key element of this growth is the “dual market strategy” it employed in 1978. In the strategy, O’Reilly functions as a wholesaler and a retailer.

“It’s selling to both the installers – the repair shops and dealerships and so forth – and selling to the do-it-yourself customers,” said Greg Henslee, CEO and co-president, adding that the concept is the first of three significant items to shape the company in the last 25 years.

Going public was the second event, Henslee said.

The company completed its initial public offering April 23, 1993, and is traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol ORLY.

Net income for the first-quarter 2005 was $33.2 million, up 21.7 percent from $27.3 million for the same period in 2004. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2004, net income totaled $124.2 million, up 24.1 percent from $100.1 million for the same period in 2003.

O’Reilly’s third big event, Henslee said, was the acquisition in January 1998 of 182 auto parts stores in Texas and Louisiana.

“We acquired Hi-Lo Auto Parts and almost doubled our size,” he said.

The acquisition made O’Reilly one of the top 10 auto parts chains in the nation. A more recent acquisition, the purchase of St. Paul, Minn.-based Midwest Auto Parts Distributors in May for $61 million, added 71 stores in five new states and 700 additional team members.

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