O'Reilly Auto plans COO change

O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) will put in action upper management changes effective Jan. 1.

At the beginning of the year, Chief Operating Officer and co-President Ted Wise will transition to the role of executive vice president of expansion, according to a news release.

Wise, who started his career with O'Reilly in 1970, was named vice president in 1984 and executive vice president in 1990. In 1999, he became co-president of the company and assumed his current position of COO and co-president in 2005.

"Ted is an extremely valuable member of team O'Reilly and has been instrumental in developing our dual-market strategy and helping to grow our company," O'Reilly President and CEO Greg Henslee said in the release.

Henslee, who also was co-president of the company along with Wise, will become the sole president and CEO Jan. 1, according to O'Reilly spokesman Mark Merz.

In his new role, Wise will scale back his weekly hours and focus on expansion operations, real estate, relocations, new sites and lease reviews, Merz said.

Merz noted the company hasn't identified a replacement COO and a timeline for a successor hasn't been put in place.

Also effective Jan. 1, O'Reilly Senior Vice President of Store Operations and Sales Jeff Shaw will be promoted to executive vice president of store operations and sales.

A 24-year O'Reilly employee, Shaw has worked his way up from a store-level parts specialist and assumed his current role in 2004.

"We are steadfast in our commitment to long-term profitable growth, and we are confident that both Ted and Jeff will provide our operations and real estate teams with the leadership necessary to drive our growth," Henslee said in the release.

Merz said Shaw has assumed most of the responsibilities of overseeing store operations, which was part of Wise's job duties.

O'Reilly recorded third-quarter net income of $148.4 million, a 27.4 percent increase compared to earnings of $116.5 million in the same quarter last year.

As of 10:26 a.m., the company's shares were trading at $90.42, compared to a 52-week range of $75.61 to $107.13.