Pep Boys shares tumble / Gores calls off buyout

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Shares of Pep Boys Manny, Moe & Jack (PBY.N) fell almost 25 percent after private equity firm Gores Group walked away from a $791 million deal to buy the auto parts retailer.

Gores had offered $15 per share for Pep Boys in January, but earlier this month sought to delay the shareholder meeting scheduled to vote on the deal citing serious deterioration in Pep Boys' business.

The company late on Tuesday cancelled the shareholder meeting scheduled for May 30, after agreeing to terminate the Gores deal, and said it would receive $50 million from the private equity firm.

Pep Boys, which barely made a profit in the first quarter, said results were below expectations due to a variety of factors that occur in the ordinary course of business.

Pep Boys, which also provides auto-repair services, has tried to sell itself many times in the past without any success.

Its smaller rival Midas was recently bought by a unit of Sumitomo Corp (8053.T) for $173 million. Another competitor Monro Muffler (MNRO.O) last week said it would accelerate the pace of acquisitions amid weak demand.

Sophis Investments LLC, an investment advisory firm, on Tuesday said it sent a letter to the Pep Boys board asking them not to adjourn the shareholder meeting.

A voluntary adjournment gives credence and the appearance of validity to Gores' claims, Sophis' president Tassos Recashinas said in the letter.

Pep Boys' shares fell to $8.36 in premarket trading on Wednesday, a level not seen since August 2011.

They closed at $11.09 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has fallen almost 25 percent since Gores warned about cancelling the merger agreement on May 1.

Pep Boys Story
 
Yep, apparently giving new meaning to the word "definitive", in the terms Definitive Agreement..

The 50 Mil should help ease the pain some. Looks like Manny, Moe and Jack can continue the well organized look of the interior of the stores.
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Originally Posted By: tenderloin




Pep Boys, which barely made a profit in the first quarter, said results were below expectations due to a variety of factors that occur in the ordinary course of business.



The "ordinary course of business" I've seen from Pepboys is employees and managers at the store level that care about customers like I care about sewer rats. Plus, they turned into the ricer superstore instead of catering to a customer base who actually buys real nuts and bolts replacement parts. They consistently have the highest prices, at least in my area.

I won't even step into a Pep Boys anymore.
 
I expect Pep Boys to close by the end of this year.

There is nothing this chain can do that the others can much better. Throw in amazon/rockauto, and they are toast...
 
The last few times I visited the local store it looked like it was in the process of being renovated, and was a disorganized jumble. Fact is, it hasn't changed in months. When the retail staff doesn't care what the store looks like, and customers can't find the ol filter department any longer without tripping over piles of unshelved goods, the store is in real trouble.
 
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Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
They consistently have the highest prices, at least in my area.

I won't even step into a Pep Boys anymore.


Pep Boys has lower prices than O'Reilly's. O'Reillys wants $28.99 for a 5.1qt jug of Valvoline ML NextGen. I can get SynPower for less @ WalMart. O'Reilly's wants $11.99 for a bottle of RedLine SI-1 Fuel System Cleaner. RedLine list price is only $9.95 on their website.


Did the stock prices tumble, or did they go back to what they were worth?
 
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I rented a Budget moving van from a Pep Boys a couple weeks ago, and the service was professional and prompt. Much, much better than my experience with U-Haul last time we moved.

Perhaps the employee I dealt with was a Budget employee and not Pep Boys? He was wearing a shirt and tie rather than the normal uniform.
 
My theory- cutting auto parts inventory and moving parts back to the storeroom in order to add scooters, awnings, [censored] Chonda compressors/generators/tools, more air fresheners, and neon bling to the showroom: NOT WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTED AFTER ALL!

I still prefer the schlep boys to Autogroan for fluids and expendables, but not nearly as much as I used to. And critical parts still always come from NAPA or Carquest.
 
We're in their home market . . . and I've been there once in almost ten years.

PB was a good parts supplier . . . back when we bought points, condensers, and oil in cans.

The move to service and the kiddies killed them AFAIK.
 
They don't even have stores here in the St. Louis area. I think Indianapolis or Springfield MO are the closest stores to me, IIRC.

I've been underwhelmed when I visited Larry, Manny and Moe, and that didn't change a few months ago when I was in Indy.
 
I used to be a good customer of Pep Boys for parts and auto supplies. Now, if I go into one, I feel like I am on the set of "Gangland".The whole front of the store is bling, air fresheners, wild decals, fuzzy steering wheel covers, etc. I have to spend time to find the fluids section and when I do, chances are they are "out of stock" on what I want. Here in central PA, they do seem to sell a lot of tires, mostly to lower income folks.

Their prices are not the best around here on filters and their oil is simply astronomical in my opinion. However, I have found some unusual spray can products at the local store and some good buys on odd tools.

Bottom line: it is hard to say if it is Manny, Moe and Jack or Curly, Larry and Moe doing the ordering and running the store!
 
My town of a population of ~200,000 had a pepboys about 10 years ago. After they opened the doors, they lasted less than 8 months before going out of business and closing the doors. After the initial grand opening, their bays were always empty, parking lot empty, store was empty of customers. Their prices couldnt compete with the rest of the autopart business's in our town. Since then, autozones have moved in and seem to be thriving, yet the original mom n' pop autoparts stores are still going strong and some are actually rebuilding stores to have bigger buildings and more parking. I prefer to support the small chain stores, like Costless and Baxters autoparts. They both stock what the customers need, not [censored] like the trinket/rice isle at Autozones.
 
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Originally Posted By: Boomer
...Bottom line: it is hard to say if it is Manny, Moe and Jack or Curly, Larry and Moe doing the ordering and running the store!


+1 ROFL!!
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FWIW, PB's corporate HQ (which I think has remained the same for decades) is in what is now a bad section of Philly.

Maybe the corporate buyers are looking at the locals' cars around HQ, and think that is what customers want.

It isn't.
 
They need to decide whether they want to focus as a parts store or an auto repair place. Apparently they are not doing well in either one.
 
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
FWIW, PB's corporate HQ (which I think has remained the same for decades) is in what is now a bad section of Philly.

Maybe the corporate buyers are looking at the locals' cars around HQ, and think that is what customers want.


HA!!! Yes, my local store looks like 'donkpimp/ricer heaven', both inside, AND in the parking lot (maybe you are onto something here??)!
 
Last experience at pep boys:

We brought the 87 F250 in to get new brake lines (needed them in a hurry) and a new battery.

Left the truck overnight and came back to get it. They brought it out and it was running already. Looked underneath and ALL of the brake lines are new. Truck stopped nice.

On the way home we stopped at a wendys. Truck wouldn't start when we went to go home. Popped the hood and found the same battery that was in when we dropped it off.

Not sure how they started it to get it to us (must have jumped it?). We ended back at pepboys and got a free battery out of it!

However, since then, the only time I have been in a pepboys was to kill time and look at ricer parts for entertainment or to see if the oil specials in the paper were really real - which they weren't.

I get an excellent discount through napa ... everything I can get comes from Napa ...
 
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There is some good stuff at Pep Boys, but it seems that they are more focused on things like fake ram air hoods, blue headlights, annoying mufflers, and other junk that cars don't need.
 
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