By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A national auto parts distributor is looking to open a branch in the Star City by 2016.
“AutoZone plans to open a store in Presque Isle in January of next year. This will be one of about 150 AutoZone stores opening up in 2016,” said Ray Pohlman, company spokesperson.
Pohlman said, “Of course, with an11-month lead time, construction delays due to weather and other issues may occur.”
“But as of now, we plan to open the new store next January,” Pohlman said.
Pohlman indicated the new facility would be located “at or near 801 Main St.”
According to the company’s website, AutoZone is “the leading retailer and leading distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the U.S.” The business sells auto and light truck parts, chemicals and accessories through stores in 49 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil. It also sells automotive diagnostic and repair software through ALLDATA, diagnostic and repair information through alldatadiy.com, and auto and light truck parts and accessories through AutoZone.com.
AutoZone was founded based on the vision of J.R. “Pitt” Hyde III, who saw a need for a retail automotive parts store to help people with the upkeep of their vehicles so he created Auto Shack. He believed that the characteristics found in supermarkets — clean, well-organized store, accessible products and great customer service – could be applied to the automotive parts business. In 1979, his vision became a reality. On July 4, 1979, Auto Shack opened its first store in Forrest City, Ark.
Today, Auto Shack is AutoZone — a Fortune500 company and the leading auto parts retailer in the United States, with more than $8.1 billion in annual sales, with more than 65,000 employees, referred to as AutoZoners.
