Otasco (Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company) was a retail chain specializing in auto parts and appliances based in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
.
It was first established in 1918 by three Jewish Lithuanian immigrant brothers, Sam (1898–1939), Maurice (1891–1970), and Herman (1889–1971) Sanditen, who opened the first Otasco store in
Okmulgee. The company moved its headquarters to Tulsa in 1925.
The company based its business on offering its products on credit.
In 1960, the
McCrory Corporation bought the company, while retaining the Sanditen brothers. In 1968, the chain had 455 units in 12 states. In 1984, the firm's employees bought the company from McCrory, creating one of the largest
employee-owned companies
Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Em ...
in America.
In 1988, the retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which resulted in the closing of 170 stores across 11 states and the loss of 1,600 jobs.
According to a source, franchisees were given a 99-year license to use the Otasco name after the chain went out of business.
[Brianna Bailey]
"Oklahoma Otasco store outlives the parent company: The former statewide brand lives on in just two Oklahoma towns — Marlow and Beaver."
''The Oklahoman
''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...
'', July 11, 2014, also reprinte
here
in ''Bloomberg Businessweek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
''. As of 2014, two Otasco stores remain in operation in Oklahoma, in
Beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
and in
Marlow.
Borger, Texas still had a store operating under the Otasco name in 2012.
Many, Louisiana
Many () is a town in, and the parish seat of Sabine Parish in western Louisiana. The population was 2,853 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 36 or 1.246 percent from 2000.
History
The site where Many currently sits was originally a Belgian settle ...
has a locally-owned Otasco Associate store still in business as of 2014.
References
Defunct discount stores of the United States
History of Tulsa, Oklahoma
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