By Amy Antenora

The Week in Review offers a snapshot of the most highly read stories of the week as seen on aftermarketNews. To access the complete stories, simply click on the highlighted links. If you missed reading one of our daily news emails, just click on the link that says "News Archives" at the bottom of the page to begin catching up on the latest industry news.

Among the top news stories this week is a rather significant announcement for the warehouse distribution and foreign nameplate segments that broke late yesterday: Uni-Select has acquired Beck/Arnley and its Canadian subsidiary Beck/Arnley Worldparts Canada. This morning, Beck/Arnley President Max Dull told aftermarketNews (AMN) that this acquisition is truly good news for all involved. “This gives us the ability to take the business to the next level, which is good for all of our customers. That’s really the simple message here," said Dull. "This is going to really supercharge the business and it’s a good investment."

Dull added that there are no plans for any changes to the Beck/Arnley business strategy as a result of Uni-Select’s acquisition. All Beck/Arnley management will remain in place as well. The deal, which is expected to close on June 1, will add annual sales of $29 million to Uni-Select’s revenues. Stay tuned for more details from AMN on this important acquisition in the coming weeks.

D. Bruce Merrifield, Jr., president, Merrifield Consulting Group, Inc. and Bill Wade, president, Wade & Partners, have been working on a joint project that looks at the impact of private label products in the aftermarket. AMN readers showed a high interest in the sneak preview we shared of their upcoming talk, which will take place on Tuesday, May 20 during the 2008 Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) in Chicago. Merrifield and Wade will discuss the causes for the disappearing profitability of private label and what manufacturers can do about it during their presentation at GAAS. To learn more about this topic, you can register to attend the 2008 GAAS by clicking here.

AMN readers were also interested to learn more about Jeff Rachor’s new automotive retail venture. Rachor recently resigned after just a year of serving as CEO of Pep Boys. He has now partnered with MSD Capital L.P., the private investment firm for Michael Dell and his family, to exclusively own and operate premier car dealerships across the United States, under the name MSD Automotive Partners. MSD Automotive will be based in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Rachor will serve as chief executive officer.

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems and Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake (BSFB) are reporting continuing problems with consumer scam activity that misappropriates their names. First reported in March, the scam has taken on a new twist. Playing on the need of some unsuspecting consumers for unexpected cash and part-time "employment opportunities," criminals have launched yet another round of fraudulent activity using the name "Bendix Spicer Research Marketing," which attempts to fool consumers into believing they were selected to participate in a paid consumer research program as "mystery shoppers."

On a lighter note, the final story to round out the top stories on AMN this week is an exclusive report from Babcox Editors Mark Phillips and Andrew Markel, detailing their recent tour of Akebono’s Kentucky manufacturing facilities. Akebono’s Springfield, Ky., facility manufactures its own aftermarket lines and private-brand brake pad lines, plus brake pads and components for Original Equipment Service (OES).

To view all of the news from the past week, simply click here to view our News Archives.