 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Auto parts retail chain |
| Founded | 1909 |
| Founder | George Pepperdine, Don Abnor Davis |
| Defunct | 2003 as brand |
| Successor | Advance Auto Parts |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | automobile parts, firearms, tires, bicycles, lawn mowers, home appliances |
| Services | Automotive repair |
| Parent |
|
| Website | Official website (archived) |
Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories operating approximately 1,200 stores across the United States.
Started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine and Don Abnor Davis, Pepperdine would later found Pepperdine University.[1]
Western Auto was purchased by Beneficial Corporation in 1961; Western Auto's management led a leveraged buyout in 1985, leading three years later to a sale to Sears. Sears sold most of the company to Advance Auto Parts in 1998, and by 2003, the resulting merger had led to the end of the Western Auto brand and its product distribution network.
After the demise of Western Auto, the company's corporate headquarters at 2107 Grand Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, was transformed into loft condominiums; the Western Auto sign remaining atop the building. The sign was relit in July 13, 2018.[2]
- ^ David, Stratford (February 15, 2009). "You Can Still Come to Western Auto". BrandlandUSA. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ "Western Auto Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
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