https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10224512009048240&set=pcb.10224512013848360
a 1937 ad
Western Auto Supply operated approximately 1200 stores across the United States. It was started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine and Don Davis.
Pepperdine later founded Pepperdine University.
Western Auto was bought by Beneficial Corporation in 1961; Western Auto's management led a leveraged buyout in 1985, leading three years later to a sale to Sears.
Sears sold most of the company to Advance Auto Parts in 1998, and by 2003, the resulting merger had led to the end of the Western Auto brand and its product distribution network.
Western Auto was known for its Western Flyer (bicycle) and Performance Radial GT (tire) brands.
Other 1975 Western Auto Garden Tiller Western Auto private labeled brands popular with consumers included "Davis Tires" (likely named for Don A. Davis, a Western Auto founder), "Tough One" Batteries, "Wizard" Tools, "TrueTone" electronics and "Citation" appliances.
Other 1975 Western Auto Garden Tiller Western Auto private labeled brands popular with consumers included "Davis Tires" (likely named for Don A. Davis, a Western Auto founder), "Tough One" Batteries, "Wizard" Tools, "TrueTone" electronics and "Citation" appliances.
Surviving on the tide of repair parts, and dying off when parts and cars became more reliable, dependable, and longer lasting, sometime around the early 50s, Western Auto started selling rifles and shotguns in its catalogues.
Just like Sears, Montgomery Ward, and J.C. Penney, Western Auto's firearms were sold under a proprietary brand produced by reputable manufacturers, such as Mossberg, Savage, Marlin, Remington, and Winchester.
Identical to standard production models, but simply the basic models produced by the various manufacturers. Firearms were one of many lines added to the store in a product diversification effort to offset the lack of car parts sold, and to get on the mail order catalog business bandwagon. By the end of the 1950s Western Auto was similar to a Sears store, equipped with a catalog order center. Auto parts comprised a small percentage of the company's sales by the mid-1960s, and had nearly disappeared by the 1970s.
From 1991 until the end of the 1997 season, Western Auto sponsored NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Darrell Waltrip's Winston Cup race team and Al Hofmann's Funny Car in NHRA from 1994 to 1997
looks really cool. wonder what the thought of this design was.
ReplyDeleteI do remember seeing the tire pictured next to the Whipcord in the ad. Used to enjoy going to the Western Auto store with my Dad all those years ago...
ReplyDeleteIf I had a time machine.... I'd pick at least one visit to a car parts store, hardware store, etc with my grandpa. (my dad split when I was 2 or 3)
DeleteExtra traction in deep mud?
ReplyDeleteWe had a Western Auto store in the little town of Bridgeport NY where I grew up. My dad bought many sets of tires there. They were like an all in one store with auto parts, hardware, small appliances and other household needs. I look back and it was a good time in life (50+ years ago). They also sold gas and I remember the owner Don Satler pumping gas with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, which always amazed me. Nowadays people would flip out!
ReplyDelete