by Harmon Jolley
posted April 25, 2008
) Grand opening advertisement for the Western Auto in Chattanooga. Click to enlarge. |
* Ice cube trays
* Credit cards
* Flashlights
* Plumbing
* Wheelbarrows
* Automobile trim
* Picnic coolers
* Gears used in some tools and appliances
A chain of stores where those items could be found in metallic form no longer exists – the Western Auto Supply Stores. The company was founded in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri by George Pepperdine, who would later lend his name to Pepperdine University. Western Auto grew with the number of automobiles, and sold maintenance and repair items in addition to general hardware.
Western Auto opened its first Chattanooga store on March 6, 1929 at 631 Broad Street. That block of downtown was in proximity to some local car dealers including Newton Chevrolet and D.S. Estheridge, and was also close to competing hardware stores such as Crisman’s. By that date, the company had sixty-two stores in cities east of the Rocky Mountains, with each store carrying more than 4,000 articles. Automobiles required more constant attention than those of today. As a result, Western Auto stocked everything from radiators to fenders to tires in its stores.
In a grand opening advertisement in the Chattanooga Times on March 8, 1929, Western Auto proclaimed its business model. The firm used its growing number of stores to gain “enormous buying power,” with a “direct, one-profit cash method of distribution.” It was a formula that has been perfected over the years in retailing.
To oversee the start-up of the Chattanooga store, Western Auto assigned Lewis H. Heyman of Memphis as manager. Opening day specials included Wizard batteries priced $5.28 to $7.95 and up. “Wizard” was the name of Western Auto’s store brand, and radiators ranging from $6.85 for a Ford to $9.85 for a Chevrolet to $13.25 for a Dodge.
Western Auto also advertised horns priced from $1.38 to $9.35 in “many styles.” I wonder if they had a Klaxon horn. That was a popular automobile horn of the era which also was celebrated in “The Klaxon” march tune by Henry Fillmore (thanks to Metro Musicians band director Paul Mansur for that information). “Ah-ooh-gah!” went the Klaxon.
Western Auto added to its Chattanooga area stores with the growth of suburbs. As of 1950, the downtown store was its only location, but over the next several years, the company added associate stores in Red Bank (3910 Dayton Boulevard), East Chattanooga (2506 Glass Street), and Rossville (5017 Rossville Boulevard). Company store #2 opened in East Ridge at 3702 Ringgold Road, and store #3 in Brainerd at 5794 Brainerd Road.
On April 4, 1968, Western Auto announced plans for store #4 near Highland Plaza at 4003 Hixson Pike. The new location adjoined the M&J Supermarket. The year also marked the fifty-ninth anniversary of Western Auto. Celebratory specials included a Wizard 22-inch mower which “vacuums as it cuts” at a price of $69.88, a gym set for $17.77, and a 12-foot roll-out flower garden for 59 cents. Western Auto often referred to its deeply-discounted prices as “sizzlers” in its marketing.
More anniversary specials were a dash-mount tachometer for your 1965 Chevelle at $14.44, and a Western Flyer Junior Buzz Bike for $27.88. Bicycles back then had lots of metal compared to today. Put a baseball card of Orlando Cepeda in the spokes, and your buzz bike would really be making some noise. Add a Klaxon horn, and folks would jump out of your way.
Western Auto’s fortunes began to wane by the 1980’s. Locally, only four stores – East Chattanooga, East Ridge, Highway 58, and Rossville – were listed in the 1980 city directory. In 1987, Sears purchased Western Auto, and began carrying Diehard and Craftsman tools in the Western Auto stores.
In 1998, Sears sold the remaining Western Auto stores to Advance Auto Parts. Chattanooga’s city directory still had the Glass Street store listed as Western Auto in 2000, but that address is listed as “vacant’ in the 2008 directory.
Several of the buildings which housed Western Auto stores still remain. The Hixson Pike/Ashland Terrace store is now a U-Haul location. The Kansas City office building of Western Auto has been restored for condominiums.
If you have memories of Western Auto, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.
) Photo by courtesy of Chattanooga-Hamilton County Library Aerial view in 1959 of Western Auto and surrounding area. Many buildings in the photo and the crest of Cameron Hill are no longer there today. Click to enlarge. |
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