The Autozone Culture And Values

The organization prides itself on being the first choice for DIY consumers. Making DIY consumers their target audiences as allowed AutoZone to grow to 4,400 retail auto parts stores within the United States and Puerto Rico and an additional 250 locations in Mexico (Parnell, 2014). While the organization is the industry leader, its competitors are also huge corporations and neither of them appear to be slowing down, this includes AutoZone. AutoZone has implemented an internal growth strategy that involves expanding and opening up to 200 more locations per year (Parnell, 2014). While AutoZone has acquired several companies and risen over its competitors, it is important that the organization remain focused on maintaining its #1 spot through internal growth

Transportation has been and will always be evolving into something new. Before the first car though, people either traveled by foot or by horses with man made trails. The resulting speed was slow and unreliable in rainy or snowy conditions. This changed in the 19th Century, with the first practical example of the Automobile.

Given the current economic climate, I think the automotive industry is going to be faced with a multitude of economic challenges in the next five years. As an oligopoly market, the auto industry is highly dependent on strategic decision-making, and the demand for dynamic innovation and supply at decreased-cost levels. Competition, possibilities of turning substitutes into compliments, and shifts toward higher demand in services are seemingly leading factors that face the current automotive industry in the immediate future. But first, we should not ignore the political forces at play within the market.

I wanted to write about Autozone because I love cars. Ever since I was small, I used to watch the Cars, the movie from Disney, and it made me interested in cars. One day, when I was around 6, my step-dad’s cad broke down and we had to go to AutoZone to get the car repaired. I was intrigued by the person who worked there because there were alot of parts for a car and tools to fix it. Ever since, I wanted to build or even fix a car at Autozone-if I can anyways.

AutoZone employed a growth strategy that grew the company to 200 stores in 5 years. When the firm went public in 1991, AutoZone had grown to nearly 600 stores. The company began to acquire other businesses in 1998, including Chief Auto Parts and Adap’s Auto Palace Stores. At the turn of the century, AutoZone attempted a change in strategy from acquisition to internal growth averaging an additional 150 to 200 stores per year. AutoZone targets the do-it-yourself market and professional repair shops. Advance Auto Parts is AutoZone’s greatest competition holding at number two in the industry. Other competitors include Pep Boys and O’Reilly,

Autozone, the top retailer in the United States has always based its strategy on DIY customers with cars over seven years old (Parnell, 2014). As technology has evolved, cars have become more difficult to work on, hence, a new target market of do-it-for-me is continuing to grow. Sales of 2.3 billion were reported for the second quarter of 2017, and the company cited higher supply chain and shrink costs (Landis, 2017).

With the introduction to new technology in the automotive industry, consumers are struggling to maintain and repair their own vehicles. They are relying on professionals in order to complete even minor repairs on their vehicles which forces them to find businesses which not only provides the needed parts but also assist with instruction on how to replace it. The demand for automobile parts is driven by the age and mileage of vehicles in use and generally increases when fewer new cars are sold and older cares are kept on the road, causing the profitability of individuals companies such as AutoZone to depend on inventory management and marketing (Tippie, 2015). For AutoZone, they were able to expand their brand very quickly with a robust financial performance over the years but with competition like The Pep Boys, O’Reilly Automotive and Advance Auto Parts, Inc. they must continue to analyze their strengths against the market in order to stay

For our initial strategy we wanted to choose a product line that would be most intriguing to customers in this poor economy. To initiate this we focused our products around better gas mileage, safety, and quality. In order to do this we needed to evaluate consumers’ needs and desires when making a high involvement purchase such as a car. We believe the best target market for this type of car would be a middle class family that does not have as much disposable income due to the recession in our economy.

AUTONATION, INC is one of the major players of automotive retail industry in the USA. It operates in an industry which is, as already mentioned, highly competitive. Other players are Lithia (LAD), Penske (PAG), Sonic (SAH), and Group 1 (GPI) that are well capitalized having extensive experience in the retail management, strong facilities and locations for retail.

AutoZone is an aftermarket auto parts retailer headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. AutoZone focused on the do-it-yourself weekend mechanic and small professional mechanic shops. It specializes in delivering low-cost replacement auto parts. AutoZone has many competitors, auto dealership parts counter, Advanced Auto Parts, O’Riley’s Auto Parts, Napa, and other discount auto parts stores, including online stores and junk yards. AutoZone strategy is delivering low-cost quality auto parts. As a weekend warrior, I have price compared between several auto parts stores when working on my dad’s old Ford. While price comparing, AutoZone was the cheapest of all the other auto parts stores. With the rising costs of automobiles and skyrocketing car loan

AutoZone was a vision from the mind of J.R. “Pitt” Hyde III after receiving his bachelor’s degree in economics. After receiving his degree he joined his grandfather’s wholesale food store Malone & Hyde’s retailing division. Pitt utilized the corporate profiled to identify several industries the wholefood store operated. The company incorporated drug stores, sporting goods stores, and supermarkets to operate in multiple unrelated industries (Parnell, J., 2016).” “Pitt saw a need for a retail automotive parts store to help with upkeep of their vehicle so he created Auto Shack (AutoZone, Inc., 2004 -2017).”

AutoZone’s primary industry is best categorized as the auto parts retailer industry since they sell an assortment of brand name and private label auto parts to consumers and commercial customers (Parnell, 2008). As a result, AutoZone’s primary industry would include companies such as, O’Reilly’s Auto Parts, Advance Auto Parts, Napa Auto Parts, and a litany of small family owned businesses that specialize in selling auto parts. AutoZone’s secondary industry includes a plethora of companies, such as, new car dealerships, giant discount stores like Walmart and Target, convenience stores, and Amazon, since they sell a multitude of products also sold by AutoZone and other stores in their primary industry. Therefore, the auto parts retailer industry

AutoZone has responded to the changes in its macroenviornment through the PEST (political-legal, economic, social, and technological analysis (Parnell, 2008). AutoZone had to face political-legal issues. One issue occurred in 2014 at a meeting when one of the members of its board of directors wanted to convince them to provide further details regarding their political spending. AutoZone’s board of directors responded by wanting its shareholders to vote against it (Meek 2014). AutoZone is actually in a good position due to the economy by to AutoZone being in auto parts industry. In a bad economy, people will most likely not purchase new vehicles. People will more likely keep the car that they already have which will eventually need repairs.

The automotive industry as one of the world 's most vital economic sectors by revenue covers a wide range of businesses involved in the design, development, marketing, production, and selling of motor vehicles. A large proportion of this industry is focused on agriculture, especially farm machinery. Although quite often people consider farming as an old fashioned, hardworking profession, owing to the technologically advanced practices farmers invest much less effort and produce much more in the 21st Century (Wang, 2010).

A case brief on AutoZone,Inc is being presented in this article. The paper briefly discusses the history and progress strategy of the company so far. The main idea of the paper is the dilemma faced by a portfolio manager- Mark Johnson- and the wise decision he could make in order to safeguard his client’s portfolio. The paper examines the current position of AutoZone in the market and its growth potential which would help Johnson in making his decision.