O’Reilly Auto to open in shuttered Clever Wal-Mart

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) plans to open its first store in Clever at a shuttered Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

Mark Merz, spokesman for the Springfield-based auto parts retailer, said the company closed on the purchase of the store about a month ago for undisclosed terms. He declined to estimate a project timeline or name the seller. The plans were first reported by Christian County Headliner News.

“We haven’t even begun the process,” he said. “This is just at the very, very early stages.”

Wal-Mart’s 12,000-square-foot Clever store closed in January 2016 among plans to shutter 269 globally. The store — which had been slated to open under the Express concept but instead launched as a Neighborhood Market — operated for about a year at 414 N. Elm St. in Clever.

The Clever Wal-Mart closed alongside three other Missouri stores in Anderson, Noel and Seligman.

As of Dec. 31, O’Reilly Automotive operated 4,829 stores. Competitor AutoZone, by comparison, operates over 5,000 stores.

ORLY shares were trading at $269.93 as of 11:13 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $248.02 to $292.84.