COMPANY DESCRIPTION
(отозон)AutoZone is an American company and is the second-largest retailer (ретейлэ) of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories (эссесорис) in the United States. AutoZone has over 5,200 stores across the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company is based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Company’s first store was opened in 1979, under the name of Auto Shack in Forrest City, Arkanzas.
1980s
- In 1984, the company became the first auto parts retailer to create a quality control program for its parts. Total stores equals (иквалс) 194 in 13 states.
- By 1986, expansion had made the company grow into a large store chain (чейн) across the South (саус) and the Midwest.
- In 1988, Auto Shack officially changed its name to AutoZone.
- Because of their revolutionary (револушионари) electronic catalogue (кэтэлог), introduced in 1987 Autozone was able to remain on the top of the competition on the market.
- Autozone had also developed a refined (рефайнд) hub-and-feeder inventory system, keeping in-store (ин-сто) inventory levels low while (уаил) reducing the chance (чэнс) be of running out of stock.
AUTOZONE PRIORITIES are the following
- From the beginning, AutoZone had invested heavily (хэвили) in expanding its retail footprint via both organic and in organic growth. The expansion of its retail footprint had driven (дривен) revenue growth. AutoZone’s success in developing leading distribution capabilities had resulted in both the highest (хаест) operating margin (маджин) for its industry and strong customer service due to the ability of its distribution network to supply stores with nearly (неали) all of the AutoZone products on a same-day basis.
- AutoZone’s management focused on after-tax return on invested capital (ROIC) as the primary way to measure (мэжэ) value creation for the company’s capital providers what lead to top-line revenue growth, ultimately (алтиматли) leading (лидин) to increased margins (маджинс).
- Starting in 1998, AutoZone had returned capital to its equity investors through (сру) share repurchases (репёчасис). Because of their consistent use of the share repurchasing program, there has been a 39% reduction in shares outstanding from 2007 to 2011, and shareholders’(шеахолдес) equity had been reduced to a negative $1.2 billion in 2011. Funded by strong operating cash flows, Autozone's share repurchasing program has allowed their invested capital to remain relatively (релативли) stable, creating an attractive (атрэктив) ROIC for the investors.