s & p 500 component industry new and used car retailer founded september 1993 ; 23 years ago 1993 09 as a subsidiary of circuit city headquarters goochland county virginia richmond mailing address key people bill nash ceo ; william r.tiefel chairman ; tom reedy cfo revenue us 14.26 billion 2015 1 operating income us 969.3 million 2015 1 net income us 597.4 million 2015 1 number of employees 22 000 2015 1 parent circuit city 1993 2002 independent 2002 present website carmax.com carmax store in raleigh north carolina carmax is the united states largest used car retailer and a fortune 500 company . the first carmax location opened in september 1993 . as of may 2015 the company had 156 locations . 2 prior to the first store being built devito verdi was hired as the advertising agency and creative resource . the company executed the campaign and additional tv advertisements over the course of a number of years in support of the launch and the initial wave of stores . concept edit the concept for carmax was developed by circuit city executives under then ceo richard l. sharp . it was developed for nearly a year in 1991 using the code name project x and was also known as honest rick s used cars to those intimately involved in the skunk works team . 3 the concept was actually first proposed by a consultant hired by circuit city to evaluate possible business opportunities beyond the scope of their consumer electronics locations . while used cars has always been the main business carmax purchased the rights to locations from car manufacturers such as chrysler mitsubishi and toyota . carmax also purchased an auto row in kenosha wisconsin that had additional manufacturer franchises such as ford bmw and volvo . the first carmax location opened in september 1993 1.7 miles 2.7 km from circuit city s corporate offices in richmond virginia . as of february 26 2009 carmax operated 100 used car superstores and seven new car franchises all of which are integrated or co located with its used car superstores . 4 the business model began with no fees however the model was subsequently abandoned for the current business model after it was determined that customers were not concerned about paying transaction fees for the purchase of a vehicle . a typical carmax store is approximately 59 000 square feet 5 500 m2 5 carries an inventory of 300 400 vehicles and turns its inventory over eight to ten times a year . on average a carmax location employs 40 sales associates . each car goes through a thorough 125 point inspection process beyond any state required inspections and includes a 30 day warranty and a five day money back guarantee . 6 circuit city issued the first carmax stock in february 1997 when carmax had seven locations . initially the stock was a tracking stock still under the umbrella of the circuit city . carmax officially split from circuit city as of october 1 2002 when it was spun off as a stock dividend for circuit city shareholders with shares also issued to those holding carmax tracking stock . during the 12 month period ending february 28 2015 the company sold 582 282 used cars . 1 according to the carmax fiscal year 2009 report released on april 2 2009 the company opened 11 used car superstores including superstores in 69 new markets . 7 carmax was on fortune s 100 best companies to work for list from 2005 to 2016 placing 85th in 2016 . 2 references edit a b c d e car max inc. form 10 k for fiscal year ended february 28 2015 . securities and exchange commission . april 24 2015 . retrieved 8 april 2016 . a b 85 . carmax . fortune . time inc. 2016 . retrieved 11 april 2016 . michael myser the wal mart of used cars unlikely big box chain carmax has transformed the world of auto retailing business 2.0 magazine october 2 2006 media.car max.com dead link jerimiah mcwilliams no haggle auto giant carmax to open first store in hampton roads the virginian pilot october 26 2005 openshaw jennifer august 3 2006 . buying a new car take a trip down the used luxury aisle first . marketwatch.com . archived from the original on august 22 2006 . retrieved may 21 2016 . carmax reports fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009 results . corporate ir.net press release . april 2 2009 . retrieved may 21 2016 . external links edit carmax official website carmax auction official website carmax foundation official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title carmax & oldid 741176943 categories 1993 establishments in virginiaauto dealerships of the united statescompanies based in richmond virginiacompanies established in 1993companies listed on the new york stock exchangeretail companies of the united stateshidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from may 2016pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search 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