Hottest Unit Growth

The quickest way to add locations is to acquire another company — preferably a rival — and that certainly describes two of the top three retailers in the Hot Unit Growth category.

Triarc, Arby’s parent company, had long owned a piece of Wendy’s: when that Ohio-based chain stumbled, Triarc maneuvered the takeover to create a marriage of hamburgers and roast beef. The resulting company is Wendy’s/Arby’s Group.

O’Reilly Automotive purchased CSK and its 1,342 stores in 22 states operating under names such as Checker Auto Parts, Schuck’s Auto Supply, Kragan Auto Parts and Murray’s Discount Auto Stores. The deal put O’Reilly in 11 new western states, including Hawaii, as well as in new markets where it had a limited footprint. The conversion of all these brands to the O’Reilly banner will continue through 2011.

Sitting at the top of this list is Best Buy, which fashioned a variation on the expansion-via-acquisition formula. Best Buy’s growth spurt came via an overseas transaction: It purchased a 50 percent interest in Best Buy Europe, a join venture with British partner The Carphone Warehouse that includes more than 2,400 The Carphone Warehouse and The Phone House stores, online channels and related businesses. Also included in the deal were CPW’s interest in Best Buy Mobile stores in the United States and The Geek Squad units in Spain and the U.K.

The internal reorganization and streamlining serve as a prelude to Best Buy’s plans to launch a full-scale invasion of Europe next year that includes large-format Best Buy stores and related online channels.