O'Reilly Auto Parts to cut ties with buyers' alliance

The Springfield-based retailer has been a shareholder with the buyers’ group for nearly 30 years, and O’Reilly Chairman David O’Reilly has been a longtime member of its board.

“We have benefited in countless ways through our association with some of the very best operators in the business,” O’Reilly said in a company news release. “Our company has reached a point where it has become very difficult for us to maintain product line compliance, which is the core driver of the association’s effectiveness.”

In leaving the alliance, O’Reilly also will be cutting ties with distribution groups Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper – the alliance’s independent jobber marketing programs.

O’Reilly has introduced a new jobber marketing program, Parts City Auto Parts, that will be strongly related to O’Reilly programs, advertising and appearance, according to the release.

The company plans to introduce the new program to jobbers within the next two weeks and complete the conversion by the end of the year, according to the release. The changeover will include new signage, interior décor and installer programs at the more than 200 O’Reilly locations that are affiliated with Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper.

O’Reilly shares (Nasdaq: ORLY) closed June 6 at $37.15, compared to a 52-week high of $38.84.

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s June 5 free e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.