RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC Ted Wise, co-president and COO of O’Reilly Automotive Inc., Springfield, MO, will address the Executive Breakfast presented by the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30, the kick-off event at Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas.
Wise will be the featured speaker at the third annual event offered by AASA on the opening day of AAPEX. The breakfast is sponsored by Ernst & Young and will be held at The Venetian.
Wise was appointed to his current position at O’Reilly Automotive in February 2005, with direct responsibility for store sales/operations, store acquisitions, store expansion/real estate, advertising/marketing, risk management and human resources. He began his career with O’Reilly Automotive in 1970 at the retail store level. In 1978, Wise became the company’s first district manager, and he was named its first vice president in 1984, in charge of store operations. In 1990, he was promoted to executive vice president of store operations and sales, and was named co-president in 1999.
“We are pleased that Ted is joining us for the 2007 AASA Executive Breakfast. O’Reilly is one of the largest specialty retailers in the automotive aftermarket, and Ted’s insights will be particularly timely, since the company’s withdrawal from the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance and the launch of its Parts City Auto Parts in June,” said Steve Handschuh, president and COO of AASA. “Our aftermarket supplier members and other aftermarket leaders will be interested to hear Ted’s comments about the break with the Alliance after 30 years and this new marketing and advertising program for its independent jobber customers.”
Handschuh will open the meeting by addressing the state of the aftermarket industry and recent AASA initiatives. Following Wise’s keynote presentation, he and Handschuh will answer questions from the crowd.
Online ticket reservations will be available soon at the AASA website, www.aftermarketsuppliers.org . For more information about the event, contact Theresa Spera, AASA director of marketing and member services, 919-406-8854 or [email protected].