Keep Calm Carry On

and
ube operators are people with strong hearts and wills. In good times and tough they have persevered or, you might say, kept calm and carried on. A testament to this is the annual Tops in the Industry Rankings, as the top 10 companies in last years rankings remain in the top 10 in 2012. You may have seen the Keep Calm and Carry On poster or one of its many variations floating around the Internet, or perhaps on a customers t-shirt. Although the British government commissioned the poster almost 75 years ago, its rather fitting in todays fast lube environment. Keep Calm and Carry On was the third in a series of World War II posters produced by the Ministry of Information in order to boost the morale of the British people in wartime by passing on a message from King George VI. The first two posters in the series, Freedom is in Peril, Defend It With All Your Might, and Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory, were issued and distributed across the United Kingdom for motivational purposes. The third poster, which carried the simple message Keep Calm and Carry On, was printed but never distributed, as it was intended to be used only if Axis inva18 www.noln.net

by Tammy Neal NOLN Staff Writer tammy.neal@noln.net

sion was imminent. At the end of the war, the Keep Calm posters were collected and destroyed. Now for the rest of the story In 2000, owners of a British bookstore discovered a Keep Calm poster at the bottom of a box of books. They liked it so much that they had it framed and displayed it in their shop. They soon found customers liked the poster, too, and many asked if they could buy it. So, the bookstore owners started printing copies. Thus, the poster spread across the pond and eventually made its way into the 2012 Tops in the Industry rankings. Before we examine the rankings, however, we first have to define the terms we use in this study. For starters, what exactly is a fast lube facility? Well, we classify a fast lube as any business that derives the majority of its sales from quick, convenient oil changes and other automotive preventive maintenance services. Businesses that merely offer oil changes as an additional service (i.e. a tune-up shop, mass merchant retailer, tire store, etc.) fall into another category. We do not require a fast lube meet the traditional architectural definition of a quick lube, however. That is, it doesnt necessarily have to be a roll-in, roll-out multibay shop with a pit/basement system. A converted muffler shop with 10 bays and nothing but lifts would qualify as long as

the primary focus of the business is providing customers with quick oil changes and other maintenance services. By our way of thinking, its still a fast lube. While this definition is broader than that used by some entities, we maintain that if a majority of a facilitys income is derived from quick oil changes and other maintenance work, that facility should be called a fast lube. What about facilities that have dual profit centers, like a carwash/fast lube; cobranded facilities like Midas/Spee Dee; or tire stores that also have a lube bay or two? To clarify this gray area, we categorize these facilities as oil change-plus shops. This category also includes muffler shops, auto repair shops, mass merchant retailers, etc. All these places will change oil, but its not their primary business model. The second term we must define is a chain. For our purposes, a fast lube chain is any six or more fast lube facilities owned by the same company/individual/business entity and/or operated under the same or similar signage. Thats why a brand like Valvoline Express Care, which is actually comprised of individual owner/operators who have entered into an agreement with Valvoline to use Express Care signage, is grouped together as a chain. Further, we frequently run across independent lube operations that might own six or more of these branded facilities. To

avoid double-counting those shops, we group them into a separate listing we call Associated Lube Chains. We would be remiss not to mention the sponsorship of this years Tops in the Industry study. Ordinarily, we publish only select data in the magazine, reserving information about oil change-plus companies, industry sales, overall store population, etc. for a report available for sale or free to paid subscribers. Thanks to Sea Foams sponsorship of this years survey, however, we are able to bring readers the full study. One final note before we examine the data: The information we publish was reported to us directly from the companies we contacted or from independent sources we deem reliable. It is believed to be accurate and current as of Feb. 29, 2012.

Top Fast Lube Chains in 2012

2012 Rank 2011 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters Jiffy Lube, TX Valvoline Instant Oil Change, KY Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change, TX Kwik Kar, TX Havoline xpress lube, CA Valvoline Express Care, KY Mobil 1 Lube Express, VA Express Oil Change & Service Center, AL** ConocoPhillips Lube Shop, TX Grease Monkey, CO Shell Rapid Lube, TX CITGO Fast Lube, TX** Castrol Premium Lube Express, NJ Oil Can Henry's, OR EZ Lube Fast Oil Change Experts, CA American LubeFast, GA Super Lube, FL Lube Stop, OH LubePro's, IL Oil Changers, CA Victory Lane Quick Oil Change, MI Speed Lube, IL Snappy Lube, NC Performance Plus Quick Lube, MI Uncle Ed's Oil Shoppe, MI Take 5 Oil Change, LA Express Lube, TX Oilstop Drive-Thru Oil Center, CA Prompto 10-Minute Oil Change, ME Terrible Herbst, NV FASLube Oil Change Center, OH Fast Eddie's Oil Change, MI Lube 'n Go, TX Mystik Service Center, TX** Oil Express, IL Time-It Lube, LA Duke of Oil, IN Grease Spot, IL QuickChange, OH Sinclair Dino Lube, OK Fast Track Oil Change Center, WI

Company Owned / Franchised 0 / 1,935 260 / 563 750 / 0 392 / 0 350 / 0 340 / 0 320 / 0 73 / 114 186 / 0 2 / 179 175 / 0 114 / 0 110 / 0 26 / 63 74 / 0 71 / 0 39 / 13 37 / 0 15 / 19 15 / 19 5 / 27 31 / 0 30 / 0 29 / 0 29 / 0 26 / 0 22 / 0 11 / 11 22 / 0 21 / 0 17 / 0 16 / 0 15 / 0 15 / 0 8/7 15 / 0 13 / 0 13 / 0 11 / 2 0 / 13 12 / 0

Total Operating 2/29/12

Growth Since 2/28/11

Stores Projected by 12/12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 12 11 14 13 15 16 17 18 19 19 19 22 24 24 24 27 29 28 30

1,935 823 750 392 350 340 320 187 186 181 175 114 110 89 74 71 52 37 34 34 32 31 30 29 29 26 22 22 22 21 17 16 15 15 15 15 13 13 13 13 12

-1% -6% 0% 1% 0% -1% -3% 9% 0% -3% 0% -9% 36% 1% 0% -3% 4% 0% 0% 0% -6% 0% 3% 0% 0% 4% 0% -4% 5% 0% 6% 7% 0% 0% 0% 7% 0% 0% 0% NEW 0%

2,035 908 * 397 370 375 * 202 * 184 * * * 89 * * * 41 36 34 * 31 34 29 29 29 24 24 * 21 17 16 15 * 15 * 13 13 13 * 12

Keep Calm l UBe On

As we mentioned earlier, the top 10 lube chains on our list from 2011 still reign this year. The 55 operating fast lube chain companies on this years list operate a total of 6,791 facilities, which is down 122 stores from last years top 53 total. Much of the overall decline in store population can be traced to those companies at the top of the list. JiffyLubesawitsdomesticstorepopulation decline by 28 facilities, leaving it with 1,935. Its important to note that these stores resulted in only a 1 percent decline for Jiffy Lube, as the chain still claims the number-one spot. ValvolineInstantOilChangesawitspopulation decline by 49 shops. Despite the 6 percent decrease, the company still holds the number-two position. ValvolineExpressCaresawitsstorecount decline by two shops.
20 www.noln.net
and

17 18 19 21 22 23 24 26 27

30 31 32 33

30 32 33 33 23 33 36

37

37 37 37

41

40

Top Fast Lube Chains in 2012

2012 Rank 2011 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters Avis Lube Fast Oil Change Center, TX Grease Pro Express Lube, FL The Lube Center "10 Minute Oil Change," MD National Lube Express, TX QuikStop Oilube, KY Super Lube, TX UMC dba Speedy Lube/Zap Lube, NY Mr. Good Lube 10 Minute Oil Change, NJ Prontolube, TX Bolton Oil Change, TX Bradzoil 10 Minute Oil Change, TX Hometown Lube, FL Mr. Fast Lube, AR Toot n Totum, TX

Company Owned / Franchised 11 / 0 11 / 0 11 / 0 10 / 0 10 / 0 9/0 9/0 8/0 7/0 6/0 6/0 6/0 6/0 6/0

Total Operating 2/29/12

Growth Since 2/28/11

Stores Projected by 12/12

42

40 42 42

11 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 7 6 6 6 6 6

-8% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% NEW 0% NEW -14% 0%

11 11 12 10 * 9 9 8 7 * 6 * 6 6

45 47 49 50 51

44 44 46 46 48 49 52 49 52

*projection unavailable **adjusted for accuracy

Top Fast Lube Associated Chains in 2012

2012 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters

Total Operating 2/29/12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

North Florida Lubes (**62 Texaco Xpress Lubes, 2 NFL Xpress Lubes), FL Southern Express Lube (38 Mobil Lube Express, 4 Shell Rapid Lubes/1 Stewart Express Oil Change), FL Pioneer Quick Lube (Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change), MI Fast Change Lube & Oil (Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change), KY Grease Lightning (11 Castrol Premium Lube Express, 7 Grease Lightning), NY Speed Lube 10-Minute Oil Change (Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change), IL Lighthouse Lube (Mobil 1 Lube Express), WI Express Automotive Group (Havoline xpress lube), TX Sayle Oil Co. (2 Dipstix, 8 Shell Rapid Lube), MS Automasters of Asheboro (Valvoline Express Care), NC

64 43 26 21 18 16 13 12 10 9

Mobil1LubeExpresssawitspopulation decreaseby10stores. TheGreaseMonkeystorepopulationdecreasedbyfivestores. Takentogether,thats94facilitiesclosed (or,inthecaseofsomeoftheoilcompany branded programs, simply did not renew theircontracts)forthechainsranked,first, second,sixth,seventhandtenth. Ofcourse,everydarkcloudhasasilver lining, and that lining in this case comes from Castrol. The Castrol Premium Express Lube program added 29 shops and grewby36percent,accountingforthelargestgrowthonthefastlubelist. Express Oil Change & Service Centers added 16 stores, resulting in 9 percent growth.While,FastEddiesOilChangeand Time-ItLubebothsaw7percentgrowth. Companies like Kwik Kar (1 percent), OilCanHenrys(1percent),SuperLube(4 percent),SnappyLube(3percent),Take5 OilChange(4percent),Prompto10-Minute Oil Change (5 percent) and FASLube Oil Change Centers (6 percent) also saw growthoverthepastyear. Mr. Lubie was the only chain to drop fromtheTopslist,asitsoldthreestoreslast year.Withonlyfourremainingstores,Mr. Lubienolongerqualifiedasachain. However,weaddedthreenewchainsto the Tops list this year. Sinclair Dino Lube made its debut at number 40. Sinclair launched the new lube program within the last year and currently has 13 badged stores.BoltonOilChangeandHometown Lube, which currently operate six stores each,madetheirdebutstiedin51stplace. Of the 55 chains listed, 11 chains saw a decrease in population, while 11 chains added shops and the population of 30 chains remained unchanged. This means that79percentofthechainsonthelisteither grew or remained unchanged. There maybesomerebrandingtakingplace,but itlooksliketheindustryislubingon. On the Associated Chains list, Grease Lightninggrewitspopulationbyawhopping 64 percent. Southern Express Lube and Pioneer Quick Lube grew by 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively. The store
March 2012 21

population for all other chains on the list remained the same as 2011. In addition to information about U.S.owned foreign fast lube chains and truck lube chains, weve also expanded our listing of international fast lube chains. It can be difficult to categorize a foreign company as a fast lube, as the largest company on the list, United Kingdom-based Kwik Fit, would be classified as an oil change-plus company in the United States. However, we did track down a total of 22 chains serving the U.K., Germany, France, Hungary, Turkey, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Canada and New Zealand.

Top Oil Change-Plus Chains in 2012

2012 Rank 2011 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters Walmart Tire & Lube Express, AR1 Goodyear Tire & Service Network Outlets, OH Firestone Complete Auto Care, IL2 Midas Auto Service Experts, IL3 TBC Retail Group, FL4 Meineke Car Care Center, NC Aamco Transmissions & Total Car Care, PA Sears Auto Centers, IL Monro Muffler Brake & Service, NY5 Pep Boys, PA Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center (Ford), MI Tuffy/Car X Auto Service Center, OH Precision Tune Auto Care, VA AutoNation, FL All Tune & Lube, MD* CarMax, VA Christian Brothers Automotive, TX Brake Masters, AZ Lithia Motors, Inc., OR Purrfect Auto Service, CA Brakes Plus Complete Auto Service, CO VIP Parts, Tires & Service, ME Merlin 200,000 Mile Shops, IL Strauss Discount Auto, NJ Lee Myles Transmissions & AutoCare, NJ Tire-Rama, MT Quality Tune-Up Shops, CA Tilden Your Total Car Care Center, NY Auto-Lab Complete Car Care Center, MI Commercial Tire, ID Conrad's Tire Express & Total Car Care, OH Milex Complete Auto Care, IL Mister Hotshine Carwash & Lube Center, AZ Sun Devil Auto, AZ Tunex Complete Car Care, UT Honest-1 Auto Care, AZ Wash Depot/Simoniz Car Wash, MA Lentz USA Automotive Service Centers, MI Auto Check Complete Car Care, TX City Garage, TX Car Care Clinic, MS
1

Company Owned / Franchised 2,500 / 0 2,240 / 0 2,187 / 0 80 / 1,353 835 / 425 15 / 851 35 / 826 809 / 0 760 / 0 736 / 0 0 / 605 42 / 339 35 / 238 0 / 260 1 / 198 108 / 0 4 / 92 55 / 34 0 / 86 0 / 71 60 / 0 56 / 0 40 / 14 47 / 0 0 / 45 0 / 45 8 / 31 0 / 39 0 / 38 34 / 0 32 / 0 0 / 32 30 / 0 28 / 0 0 / 28 0 / 25 21 / 0 10 / 9 17 / 0 16 / 0 13 / 0

Total Operating 2/29/12

Growth Since 2/28/11

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 29 30 31 33 34 36 37 38 39 40 41

1 3 2 4 5 6 8 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 19 17 19 21 23 22 23 25 26 28 37 29 27 30 31 32 36 34 33 35 38 39 41 43

2,500 2,240 2,187 1,433 1,260 866 861 809 760 736 605 381 273 260 199 108 96 89 86 71 60 56 54 47 45 45 39 39 38 34 32 32 30 28 28 25 21 19 17 16 13

2% 22% 2% -4% 1% -5% 3% -5% <1% 20% 1% -2% 3% 7% -5% 4% 16% -2% 4% -3% 9% 0% -2% -2% 2% 13% 77% 11% -12% 0% 3% 7% 25% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0% NEW 0% 0%

Keep Calm d IVeRSIFY

On the oil change-plus side, four of the top five companies saw growth during the past year. Walmart Tire & Lube Express, Firestone Complete Auto Care and TBC Retail Group all added stores and saw between 1 and 2 percent growth. Whats surprising is the company second on the list. Goodyear Tire & Service Network added more than 400 stores and saw a growth of 22 percent. Goodyear, much like some of the companies at the top of the fast lube list, is a signage program for individual operators. This growth may be a key to understanding what is happening in the industry something that many knowledgeable operators already know. More facilities, such as these tire shops, are wanting their fair share of the preventive maintenance pie and are tweaking their business models to do so. In all, 23 of the 56 chains on the oil change-plus list recorded an increase in store population. Pep Boys, Quality TuneUp Shops and Mister Hotshine Carwash &
and

22 www.noln.net

Lube Center all notched at least 20 percent growth. While Christian Brothers Automotive, Tire-Rama, Tilden Your Total Car Care Center and Woodies Auto Service all saw greater than 10 percent growth. When looking at the largest decreases on the oil change-plus list, its a numbers game. While Midas Auto Service and Meineke Car Care Centers lost 58 and 50 stores, respectively, they did not see the greatest percentage declines. For the greatest percentage decline, we go further down the list to King Bear Auto Service Centers. The chain decreased by 47 percent, which was equal to eight stores. Similarly, Tune Up Plus/Harris Tire Service decreased by 33 percent, which equaled five stores. Also, we added six new chains to the list: Auto Check Complete Car Care; Brake Max; Autotech (Master Mechanics); Currys Auto Service; Sawyer Tire Auto Care; and Super Lube Complete Car Care Center. In all, 37 out of 56 chains saw store populations increase or stay the same. That means 66 percent of oil change-plus chains have been keeping calm and diversifying business in order to garner all they can in the preventive maintenance market.

Top Oil Change-Plus Chains in 2012

2012 Rank 2011 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters Brake Max, AZ Danny's Family Car Wash, AZ Autotech (Master Mechanics), NV Car Spa, TX Delta Sonic Car Wash/Sonic Lube, NY LMC Carwash & Lube, NY Mr. Clean Car Wash, GA Tune Up Plus/Harris Tire Service, VA Curry's Auto Service, VA King Bear Auto Service Centers, NY Raffield Tire-Master, GA Savannah Tire Brake & Alignment, GA Woodie's Auto Service, NC Sawyer Tire Auto Care, MO Super Lube Complete Car Center, OH
1 2 3 4 5 *

Company Owned / Franchised 12 / 0 12 / 0 10 / 0 10 / 0 10 / 0 10 / 0 0 / 10 10 / 0 9/0 4/5 8/0 8/0 8/0 7/0 6/0

Total Operating 2/29/12

Growth Since 2/28/11

42 44 44 46 45 46 46 42 50 40 52 49 49 51 55 56

12 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 6

NEW 0% NEW 0% -9% 0% 0% -33% NEW -47% 0% 0% 14% NEW NEW

Figures obtained from third-party source dba Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Expert Tire and Wheel Works also dba as SpeeDee Oil Change & Tune-Up. Some stores co-branded dba Tire Kingdom, NTB - National Tire and Battery, Merchants Tire and Auto Centers, and Big O Tires also dba Mr. Tire, TreadQuarters Discount Tire and Autotire Car Care Center estimate

U.S.-Based Chains Ranked by Number of Foreign Facilities

2012 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters

Total Operating 2/29/12

1 2 3

Mobil 1 Centers, VA Texaco/Caltex Xpress Lube (ChevronTexaco), CA Midas Auto Service Experts, IL Walmart Tire & Lube Express, AR Precision Tune Auto Care, VA Meineke Car Care Centers, NC Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change, TX Grease Monkey, CO SpeeDee Oil Change & Tune-Up, LA Jiffy Lube, TX Aamco Transmissions, PA Valvoline Expess Care, KY

2,262 1,432 929 266 80 76 75 64 58 43 11 1

Keep Calm Ca RRY On

Every year as part of our Tops in the Industry study, we estimate the fast lube industrys overall facility population and sales. We calculate facility population using a carefully honed formula that takes into account the increasingly gray area that exists between a true fast lube (i.e. those companies with facilities represented in our fast lube ranking) and oil change-plus facilities. In other words, the formula attempts to take into account the fact that many more
and

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

24 www.noln.net

oil change-plus shops are moving toward inclusion in the fast lube category simply because they are deriving more and more of their income from automotive maintenance. We recognize that while companies may be included in the oil change-plus category, many of their individual stores will, in fact, be counted as fast lubes based on their share of the auto maintenance work. To that end, we estimate as of March 1, 2012, there were approximately 16,005 fast lube facilities in operation, a decline of approximately 4 percent. In the face of adversity, operators have kept calm and carried on, and the future remains bright for those who are able to do so. Using the average car count, ticket average and days open per year figures from our 2011 Fast Lube Operators Survey, we estimate industry sales will be approximately $8.7 billion this year. Other pertinent figures that help define the fast lube industry: The average fast lube customer changes his or her motor oil every 4,520 miles. TheaverageageofU.S.passengercarsand light trucks recently increased to 10.8 years. (Source: R.L. Polk) The total vehicles in operation in July 2011 was just over 240.5 million. (Source: R.L. Polk) All in all, the fast lube industry has been relatively stable the last few years. Where as some of the top chains saw decreases in population, an equal amount of chains saw increases in population. The Tops in the Industry survey reveals that the oil change industry and the ever-evolving, and sometimes overlapping, oil change-plus industry have become masters at keeping calm and carrying on. S

International Fast Lube Chains

2012 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters

Total Operating 2/29/12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Kwik-Fit, U.K./Netherlands Auto-Teile-Unger (A.T.U.), Germany Speedy*, France/Hungary/Turkey Norauto, France/Europe Feu Vert, France Ultra Tune, Australia Kmart Tyre & Auto Service, Australia National Tyre & Autocare, U.K. Petromin Express, Saudi Arabia Goodyear Autocare, Australia Mr. Lube, Canada Speedy Auto Service, Canada Lube-X, Canada Pit Stop, New Zealand Great Canadian Oil Change, Canada Oil Changers, Canada Lube City Express Oil Change, Canada Future Auto Service, Australia Just Lubes Oil Change Centres, Canada Economy Lube, Canada Minit Lube, Canada Lube World, Canada
* Owned by Kwik-Fit

780 600 579 373 300 260 250 200 170 125 115 65 56 50 50 26 20 15 13 11 7 6

Truck Lube Chains

2012 Rank

Facility Signage / Company Headquarters

Total Operating 2/29/12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10

TA Maintenance Shops Petro:Lube* CITGO Truck Lubes Speedco Wingfoot Truck Care Center** Bosselman dba Boss Truck Shops Sullivan Truck Center Mystik Truck Lubes Zippy Lube-A-Truck Truck PM Plus
*Owned by TA **Formerly Pilot/Flying J shops

163 60 54 50 41 35 15 15 11 8

26 www.noln.net