O’Reilly to hit full year expansion target

O’Reilly Automotive, the nation’s second largest auto parts retailer, said it is on track to open 200 new stores this year after posting its 22nd consecutive quarter of profit growth in excess of 15%.

A balanced mix of same store and organic sales growth enabled O’Reilly to grow sales 8%, to $1.85 billion during the second quarter ended June 30. Same store sales growth of 5.1% was better than the company’s forecast of 2% to 4% growth but below a robust 6.5% increase the prior year. Profits increased 16% to $206 million from $177 million while earnings per share, aided by stock buyback activity, advanced 21% to $1.91 million compared to $1.58.

O’Reilly president and CEO Greg Henslee said the retailer’s impressive and consistent results were driven by an unwavering commitment to providing excellent customer service every day.

In the auto parts world, only AutoZone is larger and operates more stores but O’Reilly is looking to narrow the gap. O’Reilly operates 4,257 stores in 42 states versus AutoZone’s slightly more than 4,900 stores in every state buy Hawaii. Despite AutoZone’s advantage in sheer units, O’Reilly is opening stores rapidly and expanding distribution capacity nationwide to improve access to parts. During the first half of the year, O’Reilly opened 91 new stores and is on track to hit its full year goal of 200 stores along with several DCs.

“Our new distribution center in Naperville, Ill., will begin servicing stores during the third quarter and the relocation of our Lewiston, Me., distribution center to a new, larger facility in Devens, Mass., is on track to be completed by the end of this year,” said Henslee. “The investment in these new facilities enhances our already robust distribution infrastructure and allows us to continue to grow our business by providing the best parts availability in our business."