Carpentersville to get 3rd auto parts store in half-mile radius
O'Reilly Auto Parts plans to open a store in Carpentersville, making it the third automotive parts and supplies retailer in a half-mile radius.
The 7,225-square-foot building will be constructed at 375 Lake Marian Road on an outlot of the Wal-Mart Supercenter. The Missouri-based O'Reilly company has a contract to purchase the vacant property from Wal-Mart, according to village documents.
The village board's unanimous approval last week of the store's development plans grants the company permission to begin construction, Community Development Director Marc Huber said.
Trustee Don Burroway said he was concerned about the store's probable competition with two similar retailers nearby: Advance Auto Parts at 340 Lake Marian Road and AutoZone at 1002 S. Kennedy Drive. But while polling other communities, Huber said, the village found it's fairly common for multiple businesses in the same category to open near one another.
Architect David Mangurten of KMA & Associates, who is working with O'Reilly, said company representatives have also vetted the area to make sure it's a good fit. That process, he said, includes researching surrounding businesses and the village's demographics.
"There's something special about Carpentersville that apparently these people feel it can support their store," he said.
In Trustee Pat Schultz's eyes, it's not up to the village to determine which businesses can acquire or build on private land, as long as the proposal meets all zoning requirements, as is the case for the O'Reilly store.
"Wal-Mart owned that property. They decide who was going to come, not the village," she said. "They could've brought in anybody that they wanted to bring in, so that was their choice."
Choosing an auto parts retailer to take over one of its outlots was likely an intentional business decision for Wal-Mart, as its Carpentersville store does not have an auto center, Village President Ed Ritter said.
"This will be a (sales) tax-producing building, at least, as opposed to a nontax-producing building," he said. "That's the best choice for us."