In Pet Philadelphia Store

The Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY), branded as Pep Boys Auto and commonly abbreviated as Pep Boys , is a full-service automotive aftermarket chain. In 1921, Emanuel (Manny) Rosenfeld, Maurice L. (Moe) Strauss, and W. Graham (Jack) Jackson opened the first "Pep Auto Supplies" store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Currently, Pep Boys, headquartered in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, Pa., has 570 stores and approximately 6,000 service bays in 35 states and Puerto Rico. Along with its full-service vehicle maintenance and repair capabilities, the company also serves the commercial auto parts delivery market and is one of the leading sellers of replacement tires in the United States as well as one of the nation's fastest growing companies.

History

The original "Pep Boys" were Emanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, Graham "Jack" Jackson and Moe Radavitz, four friends who pooled $800 in 1921 to open a single auto parts store. They dubbed it "Pep Auto Supplies" after noticing a shipment of Pep Valve grinding compound on the shelves.

That name was first changed because of a policeman who worked near the store. Apparently, every time the officer stopped a car at night for not having an oil wick burning, he would tell the driver to go see the "boys at Pep" for a replacement. That advice turned into the name "Pep Boys", which stuck until Moe Strauss took a trip to California around 1923. While there, he noticed that many successful West Coast businesses used their owners' first names. One he liked in particular was a dress shop called Minnie, Maude and Mabel's. As soon as he returned to Philadelphia, the business partners officially changed the store's name to "The Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack" and commissioned the Manny, Moe and Jack caricatures that still serve as the company's logo.

By the early 1930s, Moe Radavitz had left the business, Pep Boys had 40 stores in Philadelphia, and Manny's brother, Murray Rosenfeld, had opened the first West Coast Pep Boys store.

In 1946, Pep Boys went public and Manny Rosenfeld became the company's first corporate president, a position he held until his death in 1959. Moe Strauss served as president from 1960 to 1973 and remained a member of the board of directors until his death in 1982. In 1986, Mitch Leibovitz became the first non-founding family member to be named company president. Manny's grandson, Stuart Rosenfeld, Pep Boys Vice President of Distribution, is the only founding family member actively involved in company management.

Today

Still headquartered in Philadelphia, Pep Boys is primarily engaged in selling both brand-name and private-label automotive parts and offering on-site automotive service facilities. The company serves all four segments of the automotive aftermarket industry: do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me (service), buy-for-resale (sales to professional garages), and tire sales. Pep Boys stores stock about 22,000 car parts and accessories, including tires, and combined operate some 6,000 service bays for parts installation, repair, and vehicle inspection.

The company employs over 20,000 associates, owns 552 supercenters, nine Pep Boys Express stores and nine tire and service centers. The company has service bays in 561 of its 570 locations. Each service department has the ability to perform most types of automotive repair and maintenance service (except body work). As of February 2, 2008, Pep Boys operated its stores in 35 states and Puerto Rico. The company offers a number of private-label brand names, including tires under the names Cornell, Futura and Definity and batteries under the name Prostart.

Pep Boys is the leading automotive aftermarket retail and service chain in the United States, with billions of dollars in aftermarket sales. To support this demand, Pep Boys currently has five distribution centers located in New York, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; Dallas, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana and San Bernardino, California.

During 2006 - 2008 period several investment concerns, including Hanover Square Partners, Barrington Capital, and Pirate Capital, accumulated well over 25% of Pep Boys common stock, and citing the company's lack of strategy and the need for change, have pressed successfully to replace the Board, followed by Management reorganization.

In May 2008, Pep Boys CEO Jeff Rachor left the company after 13 months to pursue a luxury automotive dealership venture with Michael Dell. Chief Operating Officer Michael R. Odell replaced him as CEO.

The company has begun an effort to boost sagging performance by opening a number of 'service only' stores in selected markets. This venture currently is targeting the Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago areas.

On October 13, 2009, Pep Boys acquired Florida Tire for $4.35 million. The acquisition of the tire retailer will give Pep Boys 10 service-and-tire centers in the Orlando market that generate sales of $14 million a year.. The deal is expected to close Oct. 30, 2009. Pep Boys’ new locations are expected to complement the eight “supercenter” stores in the Orlando market.

Pep Boys and NASCAR

Pep Boys began sponsoring NASCAR two-time Daytona 500 champion driver Sterling Marlin's No. 14 car owned by Ginn Racing in 2007. The company also sponsors the Pep Boys Auto 500, a race held at The Atlanta Motor Speedway each October.

In popular culture

• On his television show, Jack Benny's famous violin is discovered to be from the Pep Boys.
• The television series The Simpsons features a parody store called "Zip Boys," with similar cartoon caricatures in its logo.
• In the Spike Jones 1940s rendition of a song called "My Old Flame", voice actor Paul Frees recites a list of names in an attempt to recall the name of his "old flame": "Doris? Laura? Chloe? Manny, Moe, Jack? (pause) No, it couldn't have been Moe."
• In a 1948 Life of Riley radio episode entitled "Father's Day Bathrobes", Manny, Moe and Jack are mentioned as Mr. Binny's turtles.
• The Pep Boys are referenced in the 1969 Frank Zappa song "The Uncle Meat Variations": "Fuzzy dice & bongos/FUZZY DICE/I got 'em at the Pep Boys... at the BOYYYYYS."
• In 1979, the punk rock band the Dickies released a song entitled "Manny, Moe and Jack".
• In the computer game World of Warcraft , a quest involves finding three peons called "Manni, Moh and Jakk" to fix a shredder.
• In Daniel Pinkwater's novel Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars , the three Neptunians in control of Lenny, the capital city of Wakka-Wakka, are named Manny, Moe, and Jack.
• In the graphic novel Hard Boiled (issue 1, page 31), a parody of the Pep Boys is depicted as "the Pup Boys".
• In the 1958 film Auntie Mame , Rosalind Russell's character wishes Manny, Moe and Jack a happy New Year.
• In the television series M*A*S*H , set in 1950's Korea, in an episode titled "The Colonel's Horse", characters Hawkeye Pierce and Radar O'Reilly briefly argue how to treat Colonel Potter's sick horse, Sophie. Hawkeye asks Radar, "Hey, who delivered your guinea pig's triplets, Manny, Moe, and Jack?"
• In the 1991 television movie Knight Rider 2000 , K.I.T.T. says, "Now that's just wonderful. You stick me in mothballs for nearly a decade, and then you sell my parts like I'm inventory for Manny, Moe and Jack."

Notes

1. ^ http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/04/23/afx4923130.html
2. ^ http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2009/10/12/daily13.html
3. ^ http://www.autoracingdaily.com/news/super-gt/pep_boys_announces_sponsorship_of_sterling_marlins_no_14_chevrolet_in_nasca/
4. ^ http://odeo.com/episodes/23519442-NASCAR-Beat-Pep-Boys-Auto-500

Sources

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