Mel, I saw your post and thought I could shed some light on AZO.
"Auto Zone is the nations leading Autoparts chain," With 1728 Stores in 32 states they" operate more stores than any other auto parts retailer in America." On average they say they open the door on a "new" Autozone store nearly everyday . This information comes directly from there 1997 Annual Report. From a retail perspective the company is identical to Home Depot. Catagory killer once opening in a new market. Then they dominate by going after the wholesale parts ,supplying the independent garage owner, Mechanic and other chain store companies, that supply the retail customer.(Such as Firestone , Goodyear, Tire America, Midas, Etc..........) The main difference is that they do it faster, for the same part, at the same price or lower than there direct competition.....( Napa auto parts, Local Wholesalers and distributors.)
So they can produce more revenue dollars by suppling not only the "do it yourself "retail consumer but also the guy that wouldn't know a wrench from a socket set and takes his car to the Texaco down the street. Lets remember also " PARTS IS PARTS."
I have been a holder of this stock since 1994 , and will leave it as a core holding. You may want to look at the S&P report as well as Value Line, and call the 800 directory to get a Phone # for AZO they will send you what ever you ask for. IMHO. GREAT COMPANY. TIM |
