Consumer Auto Parts Joins IAPA
Independent Auto Parts of America (IAPA) recently announced that Milford, Mass.-based Consumer Auto Parts, has joined the group as its newest member. Established in 1973, Consumer Auto Parts serves more than 3,000 installers from its 22 company owned stores located in Massachusetts and Southern Vermont. The company, led by President Merrill Cohen, has a mix of customers that is 50/50 installer/retail. Annual consumer sales for the last fiscal year were $35 million.
Valvoline Announces Management Changes
Valvoline, a division of Ashland Inc., recently announced several changes in management, including the promotion of Mitchell Skaggs and Robert Craycraft to new positions on Valvoline’s senior management team. Scott Vogel, a consumer marketing executive, has joined the division as president of Valvoline Instant Oil Change (VIOC), Valvoline’s quick-lube business unit. In a related move, John Wesley, former president of VIOC, was named senior vice president and general manager for Valvoline’s DIFM (do-it-for-me) Distributor Group business unit.
MEMA Names Industry Veteran Bob McKenna as its New President
The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) has named Bob McKenna as its new president and CEO. The appointment is effective October 1. McKenna, who has 35 years of aftermarket industry experience, comes to MEMA from Atlanta-based Genuine Parts Company (GPC) where he served as group vice president and chairman of the board for the National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA).
AutoZone Completes Acquisition of Eastern Parts Store Chain
Yesterday, AutoZone announced it had completed the purchase of selected assets of the Eastern U.S. auto parts chain, ABC Discount Auto Parts. ABC had been a long-time member of the RPM Group. The acquisition of ABC furthers AutoZone plans to develop market areas through asset acquisitions where the company currently is under-penetrated. ABC Discount Auto Parts operated 17 stores and one distribution center in Southern New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. The company, previously owned by Lou and Carla Fishman, was headquartered in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Auto Supplier Venture: Money Diverted Before its Bankruptcy
One of Michigan’s largest private corporations has taken the extraordinary action of suing the man who founded it, saying he, his family and side businesses owned by them siphoned more than $314 million from the corporation before it declared bankruptcy.