Chief Auto Parts was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

-based auto parts store chain that had stores located in the states of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Chief was founded in 1955 in

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated 103,949 in 2019. It is the 58th most densely-populated ...

by Vern Johnson and Lorin Tuthill. The company grew to 119 stores when it was sold to Southland in 1979. After passing through several different owners during the next two decades, the company grew to over 500 stores before it was sold to

AutoZone AutoZone, Inc. is an American retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories, the largest in the United States. Founded in 1979, AutoZone has over 6,400 stores across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the US Virgin Is ...

in 1998.

History

Chief was founded in 1955 in

by Vern Johnson and Lorin Tuthill. The chain grew to 119 stores, mostly in California, by the time it was purchased by Southland in 1979. It was purchased by

Southland Corporation 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

in 1979,Alternate Link
via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

. along with

Citgo Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo, stylized as CITGO) is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area o ...

and

Movie Quik MovieQuik, often misreported in the news as Movie Quik, was a VHS video and VCR rental service offered inside 7-Eleven stores, a division of Southland Corporation, based in the United States and provided by MovieQuik Systems, another fully owned ...

. The company was based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and operated as a division of Southland Corporation until 1990. The company expanded in 1985 by acquiring locations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama by purchasing Honey's Auto Parts in Nashville. At the same time, Chief also acquired 77

Checker Auto Parts CSK Auto, Inc. was a specialty retailer of automotive parts and accessories in the western United States. CSK Auto became a publicly traded company in March 1998, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew through a combination of acquisitions ...

locations in Oklahoma and Texas from

Lucky Stores Lucky Stores is an American supermarket chain founded in San Leandro, California, in 1935. Lucky is currently operated by Albertsons in Utah and Save Mart Supermarkets in Northern California. In 1998, Lucky's parent company, American Stores, ...

when Lucky decided to withdraw Checker from those areas.Alternate Link
via

. In 1988, Southland sold Chief Auto Parts to an investor group led by Chief management and

Shearson Lehman Brothers Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward Shearson Six years later, Chief Auto Parts was acquired by Trust Company of the West, a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based investment group, and the management of Chief Auto Parts for an undisclosed amount to primarily pay off

General Electric Capital GE Capital is the financial services division of General Electric. The company currently only runs one division, GE Energy Financial Services. It had provided additional services in the past; however, those units were sold between 2013 and 201 ...

which had acquired Shearson Lehman's share of the company. In 1995, Chief Auto Parts acquired

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

-based Hi-Lo Automotive, with its 191 stores in Texas, Louisiana and California, for $121 million. At the time of the acquisition, Chief had more than 500 stores in California, Texas, Nevada, Tennessee, Arkansas and Arizona. In 1998, Trust Company of the West sold Chief to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

based

for $280 million in cash and debt assumption. At the time of the sale, Chief had 556 auto parts stores. From 1992 until its merger with AutoZone, the company's CEO was David H. Eisenberg.

References

{{Reflist, 30 em Automotive part retailers of the United States Retail companies based in California Defunct companies based in Texas Companies based in Dallas Retail companies established in 1955 Retail companies disestablished in 1998 1955 establishments in California 1998 disestablishments in Texas 7-Eleven General Electric acquisitions Norwalk, California