In 1921, four Navy buddies spotted an emerging market for auto supplies stores and pooled $800 to open the first one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since then, Pep Boys has been ahead of its time in the business world as one of the most widely known aftermarket auto parts and service brands in the country.

Early history. The original "Pep Boys" were Emmanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, Graham "Jack" Jackson, and Moe Radavitz, four friends who, in August 1921, chipped in $200 apiece to open a single auto parts store.

Elimination of the company's retail parts operations is part of the company's strategy to expand the service side as today's cars, including electric vehicles, become too complex for owners to repair on their own, Pep Boys spokeswoman Arianna Sherlock said.

Icahn Enterprises Almost purchased by several suitors, Pep Boys was finally acquired in 2016 by Icahn Enterprises as part of its automotive group.

Pep Boys' growth strategy is centered around a "hub and spoke" model, which calls for adding smaller neighborhood service shops to its existing Supercenter store base in order to further leverage existing inventories, distribution network, operations infrastructure and advertising spend.

Scott Collette executive Scott Collette as its CEO, filling a position left open since November 2022 when former President and CEO Brian Kaner left the company.

City officials were delighted when billionaire Carl Icahn bought the iconic Philadelphia business Pep Boys four years ago. But Icahn has run into rougher financial territory since then.

The Philadelphia-based company will close stores in 13 states, including 11 in California, five in Texas, four in Florida and three in Pennsylvania. Two of the five Texas stores are in Houston. One store will close in each of three other cities: San Antonio, Fort Worth and El Paso.

pepboys.com's top 5 competitors in September 2023 are: tirerack.com, goodyear.com, discounttire.com, firestonecompleteautocare.com, and more. According to Similarweb data of monthly visits, pepboys.com's top competitor in September 2023 is tirerack.com with 6.5M visits.

Pep's target market is the mass lower- to middle-income end of the market. As such it seeks to sell low-cost clothes and is the largest single-brand retailer in South Africa.

Five Guys' invests so heavily into its core competencies and internal brand marketing, that the customers do the social media and word-of-mouth marketing. 100% organically. Much of the customer feedback analyzed found the brand 'Pricey' compared to competitors.

Philadelphia, PAPep Boys / Headquarters