Founded in 1957, O’Reilly is a retailer that sells auto parts, supplies, tools, and accessories for all and any automotive. They have professional service providers as well as do-it-yourself offers. Starting with just one store in Springfield, Missouri in 1957, they are now a brand that has 5,100 stores located across 47 states, which even includes Alaska and Hawaii.
It all started with Michael Byrne O’Reilly who immigrated and settled in St. Louis and pursued a career in title examining. Charles Francis O’Reilly, his son, went to work as a traveling salesman for Link Motor Supply and soon became a well-known figure in the organization. Charles’s son Chub joined Link Motor Supply and together they provided the leadership and management qualities making Link Motors Supply, one of the leading auto parts providers.
By 1957, Link underwent a reorganization where Charles had to step down and Chub was decided to be moved to the Kansas City branch of the company. They both found the decision unacceptable and decided to form a company of their own and they named it O’Reilly Automotive Inc. Starting with one store in Springfield in 1957, they totaled a sale of a whopping $700,000 in 1958, which reached a figure of $1.3 million by 1961. By 1975, their annual sales volume rose to $7 million. A 52,000 square feet facility was built at 233 S. Patterson for O’Reilly and Ozark, who was their distributor since 1961. By then, O’Reilly auto parts had 9 stores in Missouri.
By 1993, the company was listed in the NASDAQ market in the name of ORLY and the company completed its first initial public offering. The company also provides stock options to its full-time team members. In 1998, there was a merger with between O’Reilly and Hi/Lo Auto Supply, which added another 182 stores in Texas to their kitty and an additional distribution center in Houston. Acquiring Hi/Lo made O’Reilly auto parts one of the top ten company in the automotive industry in the country. In 2000, O’Reilly purchased KarPro Auto Parts, which added another 60,000-square-feet distribution center in Arkansas.
By 2001, O’Reilly had already established itself as one of the top-notch automotive parts providers, but that never stopped their ambition to continue expanding. In the very same year, they bought Mid State Automotive Distributors, which added another 82 stores and two more distribution centers. Soon they were among the top five automotive parts providers in the country. By 2005, they had added two more distribution centers in Atlanta, Georgia. 2008 marked the biggest acquisition for O’Reilly when they acquired CSK Auto, which added 1273 stores across 12 states and making them third largest Auto parts chain behind Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone.
As of 2018, O’Reilly owns over 5,147 stores across 47 states and they still plan to expand by adding another 200 stores clearly showing their ambition to excel at what they are.
