CarMax is a public company with its headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, USA. The company operates in the used vehicle retailer business and has two business segments. One is CarMax Sales Operations and the other one is CarMax Auto Finance.
The company was founded around 30 years ago, in September 1993, to be exact. The company CarMax is a subsidiary of Circuit City, which is an American electrics retail company founded by Samuel Wurtzel in 1949. CarMax opened its first retail outlet in Richmond, Virginia in September 1993.
The growth of the company from there was very impressive and they have had many successful ventures throughout these years. The company is doing well as of right now and they operate in 238 locations as per the reports of October 2022.
Even though the store has its primary focus on the marketing of used cars, CarMax acquired its first new car franchise in 1996. The deal was made with Chrysler Corporation.
Just like their operations in the field of used cars, CarMax was successful in the new car franchise market and they went on to add more deals to their dealerships like Mitsubishi Motors, Toyota, and Nissan by 1999. It can be said without much doubt that CarMax is the largest used car dealer in the nation.
On the company’s website, they describe the contribution that they made in the field of a used car dealership and they explain that their reasonable prices that do not require any bargaining have made the process of buying and selling used cars a stress-free thing for their customers and they also add that they constantly strive to raise the bar on customer interaction and also their satisfaction.
The concept and idea for the development of CarMax started when Richard L. Sharp was the CEO of Circuit City. CarMax is the result of the ideas developed by the then executives of the company.
During the initial time of their development, the company idea was discussed under the name ‘Project X’ and it was also known under the name ‘Honest Rick’s Used Cars.’ The company hired a consultant named Roland L. Moore to evaluate the possibility of Circuit City beyond the market of electronics.
The launch of the company was also a very strategized move. Before the first CarMax store was built, the company hired DeVito/Verdi in order to do the advertising campaigns and also for their creative resources in promoting the store.
DeVito/Verdi is a very popular advertising and public relations agency in the United States based in New York.
The first CarMax store was issued by Circuit City in February 1997. Initially, the stick of CarMax was under Circuit City but the company split from its parent company and became a separate entity on October 1, 2002. The company became so successful and reached the top of the field.
They are the largest used car dealers in the United States. The company was also listed on Fortune’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For.’
The list focused on different companies for the time gap of 2005 to 2022. The company had been on the list for almost two decades now. It is the result of focusing more on people and delivering them an experience that is not only great but also iconic.
Even though CarMax is at the top of the used car industry, the recent improvements in technology have also changed the shopping habits of people and with the introduction of different firms working for their online companies, CarMax is also under the threat of strict competition.
In order to tackle this situation, CarMax introduced a new feature which they named ‘Omni-Channel.’
The features of this new idea allow their customers to buy a car online, or from their store or event through a combination of these two methods.
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They also provide their customers the chance to choose to get their vehicle delivered to their home, contactless curbside pickup, or any other such service according to the convenience of the customer.
As can be inferred from the company’s website, there is more than meets the eye at CarMax. They provide additional services to their customers like CarMax Auctions, CarMax Service, and CarMax Auto Finance and also are also a big part in giving back and helping different communities.
They are also very successful in auctions, as about thousands of cars are auctioned every week across the country.
Even though CarMax faces competition from different other companies, they are on the road to more success and are expected to keep up their good name and good sales. As of now, the company has more than 220 stores in around 41 states in the country.
They also provide employment to a large number which is estimated to be more than 25,000. Throughout the business history of the company, they have sold more than 9 million cars and also have almost the same number of cars purchased.
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