| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NASDAQ: MNRO |
| Industry | Automobile care |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Founder(s) | Charles J. August |
| Headquarters | Rochester, New York |
| Area served | Eastern and Midwestern United States |
| Key people | Robert G. Gross, CEO |
| Services | Brakes, mufflers and exhaust systems, steering, drive train, suspension, and wheel alignment |
| Revenue | US$637 million (2011)[1] |
| Operating income | US$78 million (2011)[1] |
| Net income | US$46 million (2011)[1] |
| Total assets | US$452 million (2011)[1] |
| Total equity | US$280 million (2011)[1] |
| Employees | 5005 (2011)[1] |
| Website | www.monro.com |
Monro Muffler Brake (NASDAQ: MNRO) is an automotive service company focusing on muffler and brake repair. Monro Muffler is named for Monroe County, New York (County for the city of Rochester, NY), without the "e."[2]
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The company was founded by Chuck August in 1957, originally as a franchise of another company, Midas Muffler.[3]
In the mid-1960s, Chuck August decided that his muffler shops should offer an expanded list of services. This was not in line with the other organization's wishes. In 1966, Chuck discontinued his affiliation with Midas Muffler.[3] August launched a new muffler service company under the name Monro Muffler with his brother, Burton S. August, and Sheldon Lane. August named the new company after Monroe County, New York, but without the "e" at the end of the name.[2] August added brake services several years later and renamed the company, Monro Muffler Brake Inc.[2]
Monro began a deliberate course of prudent expansion, arriving at 20 stores by 1977.[3]They had a warehouse on West Henrietta Road. By the end of 1979, they had about 43 stores in New York. From this warehouse, drivers would load the trucks and deliver to all the 43 stores throughout New York. Afterwards, a more aggressive expansion program was instituted when the company began to make a number of large acquisitions. By the mid-1980s, there were 59 stores which generated $21 million in sales annually.[2] Most of those locations were located in upstate New York.[2]
In 1984, the company's founder, Charles August, sold his controlling interest in Monro Muffler and Brake to a New York City-based investors group headed by Donald Glickman and Peter J. Solomon.[2][3] August remained on the company's board of directors until 2002.[3]
In 1991, Monro Muffler made its initial public offering.[3] Monro's stock began trading on NASDAQ under the symbol "MNRO". The company aggressively expanded throughout the 1990s outside of its traditional base in upstate New York.[3] In September 1998, Monro successfully purchased all 205 Speedy Muffler King locations within the United States from Speedy Muffler King, Inc. of Toronto, Canada.
In 2004, Monro purchased the 25 stores and 10 kiosks of Mr. Tire, a Baltimore, Maryland chain which trademarked “On the Rim and Out the Door” pricing. Later that year, Monro bought five Rice Tire locations and rebranded them as Mr. Tire Auto Service Centers. Monro now operates 132 Mr. Tire outlets.
In 2006, Monro obtained 75 ProCare shops from bankruptcy, converting 44 to Monro Muffler Brake & Service centers and 31 to Mr. Tire outlets. In fiscal 2010, the company purchased the 26 Autotire stores in Missouri and Illinois, its first venture into the mid-West, and the 41 Tire Warehouse Central stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire. Fiscal 2011 began with the acquisition of Import Export Tire Co., five retail tire and auto repair stores in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metro region, and Courthouse Tire, three tire and undercar care facilities in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area. Thirty-five of the Monro Muffler Brake & Service shops are located in BJ's Wholesale Club stores.
This strategy of new acquisitions and converting existing stores to carry the Monro name continues under the leadership of President and CEO, Rob Gross. Since his arrival in 1999, the company has steadily increased its sales and profitability. Monro is the largest, most profitable independently owned under-car repair specialist in the United States. In fiscal 2010, Monro serviced 3.9 million cars, trucks, and vans and posted record sales of $564.6 million, record net income of $33.2 million, and record earnings of $1.61 per share.