AutoZone 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6
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Fiscal2004wasanotherrecordyearforAutoZone.Wecontinuedourstringof
reportingrecordearningsandearningspersharesincebecomingapubliccompany
backin1991.
•Weopened201netnewstoresintheU.S.and14newstoresinMexico;
•WegrewourCommercialbusiness11%ontopof26%lastyear;
•Wecontinuedtoimproveourlevelsofservicebyalmostdoublingoverthelasttwo
yearsthenumberofASE-certifiedemployeeswehavetohelpourcustomerswith
theirneeds;and
•Wecontinuedtoexpandthereachofourproprietarybrandsacrossproduct
categoriesthroughoutthestore.
Threeyearsago,weestablishedamissiontoincreaseshareholdervaluefrom
itsalreadyhighlevels.Weconductedextensivebusinessanalysis,developeda
long-termstrategicplan,andthenimplementedaseriesofoperatingplans.
TheleadershipoftheseplanscontinuestobedrivenbyourCEOteam(picturedon
pages4&5),comprisedoftheroughly40officersoftheCompany.Aspartofour
newfuture,theCEOteamcreatedavisionfortheCompany:“Relentlesslycreating
themostexcitingZoneforvehiclesolutions!”Thisaspirationalvisioncontinuesto
driveustowardgreaterheights,asitexemplifieseverythingwehaveachievedand
continuetostrivetoward.
AutoZonepriorities
Weestablishedbackin2001threeprioritiesforourbusiness:
•ProfitablyexpandtheU.S.Retailbusiness;
•DeveloptheU.S.Commercialbusiness;
•DevelopourbusinessinMexico.
U.S.Retail:continuingtobeour#1priority
AutoZone’scorebusinessisbuiltonsupportingtheDo-It-Yourself(DIY)customer,
whichaccordingtotheAutomotiveAftermarketIndustryAssociationisover$35
billioninsizeandhasgrownatacompoundannualgrowthrateof4.3%overthe
pastfiveyears.*Equallyimportantistheestimated$60billion*ofroutinemainte-
nancethatgoesundoneeachyear.Wecontinuetoseethisasagreatopportunity
D e a r C u s t o m e r s , A u t o Z o n e r s a n d S h a r e h o l d e r s :
“Wearefocused
onoperatingthe
Companytoprofitably
growsales,efficiently
deploycapital,and
optimizelong-term
shareholdervalue
whilemaintaining
thehighestlevels
ofethics.”
®
*2004/2005AAIAFactbook
2’04AnnualReport
ASEcertificationsvali-
datethedepthofour
AutoZoners’knowl-
edgeandexperience.
Itassuresourcus-
tomersthatweoffer
trustworthyadvice,
andweknowour
partsandproducts.