🠈 Safelite 🠊
Safelite
Safelite offers windshield replacement and related service. The about page said the company had 720 locations in North America with corporate headquarters in Columbus. Safelite is currently a division of Belron which has thousands of locations around the globe.
ADVERTISEMENT: Safelite offers a line of Windshield Wipers and Auto Glass Cleaner on Amazon.com.
This is a commercial they had on Vimeo. Their app shows the GPS location of the Safelite repair man to help you plan your windshield repair:
"Hockey Mom" :15 Spot from Safelite AutoGlass on Vimeo.
Corporate History
Safelite is currently owned by the South African based Belron which, in turn, is owned by the Belgium firm D'Ieteren; So, I will present its history from the perspective of D'Ieteren.
- 1805: Joseph-Jean D'Ieteren founded the company to create coaches.
- 1948: D'Ieteren entered an agreement to manufacture cars for Volkswagon and later Studebakers.
- 1970: D'Ieteren sold its car manufacturing plant. The plant is now Audi Brussels.
- 1999: D'Ieteren acquired Belron which makes and sells windshields.
History of Belron
- 1897: The company started as Jacobs & Dandor in Cape Town, South Africa.
- 1899: New owners renamed it Plate Glass Bevelling and Silvering.
- 1917: The company merged with City Glass Bevelling & Silvering Works which was created in 1909.
- 1947: The company goes public as Plate Glass & Shatterprufe Industries (PGSI).
- 1962: PGSI acquired its rival Express Glass.
- 1971: PGSI expanded internationally with acquisition of O’Brien in Australia.
- 1971: PGSI introduced name Belron.
- 1983: PGSI acquired Windshields and Autoglass in the United Kingdom.
- 1988: PGSI acquired Carglass based in France.
- 1990: PGSI expanded into the US with a subsidiary called Windshields of America.
- 1992: South African Brewers acquired control of PGSI.
- 1996: Windshields merged with Globe Glass & Mirror Co. to create a short lived company called Vistar with Belron owning a 50% stake.
- 1997: Safelite merged Vistar with Belron owning a 45% stake in combined firm.
- 2005: Belron acquired Elite Auto Glass Inc. based in Colorado.
- 2005: Belron acquired Auto Glass Specialists Inc. based in Wisconsin.
- 2006: Belron acquired Maverick Auto Glass, Inc. based in Phoenix, Arizona.
- 2007: Belron acquired remaining portions of Safelite
History of Safelite
- 1947: Bud Glassman and Art Lankin began offering replacement windows in Wichita, Kansas.
- 1951: The company began manufacturing window blocks and laminated windows for cars. They coined the brand Safelite for the laminated windows.
- 1968: Safelite acquired Royal Industries, Inc. which as a defense contractor founded in 1949.
- 195?: Safelite acquired Royal Jet Inc. then changed its name to Royal.
- 1969: Royal began a period of rapid acquisition and bought 30 companies from 1969 to 1972.
- 1976: Lear Siegler Inc. acquired Royal.
- 1987: Forstmann, Little & Co acquired Lear Siegler Inc. in a $2.1 billion leveraged buyout. They broke up the conglomerate.
- 1987: Forstmann hired Robert Morosky, who had been the chief financial officer of The Limited, Inc. to expand Safelite as a chain.
- 1989: Forstmann spun Safelite into a separate entity.
- 1996: Thomas H Lee acquired Safelite.
- 1997: Safelite merged with Vistar.
- 2000: Safelite declared bankruptcy with $591 million in debt.
- 2018: Safelite acquired Black Diamond Autoglass of Arizona.
- 2019: Safelite acquired South Carolina based Glasspro which had 11 locations.
References:
- Funding Universe - Safelite (Drawn 6/11/2019)
- Safelite acquires black diamond (Drawn 6/11/2019)
- Post and Courier - Glasspro (Drawn 6/11/2019)
- EuroInvestor - Acquisition by Belron (Drawn 6/11/2019)
- Encyclopedia.com - Belron (Drawn 6/11/2019)
Directory Listings:
- Mohave County - Automobile: Safelite
- Yuma County - Automotive: Safelite
- Boulder Color - Automobile: Safelite
- Colorado Springs Color - Auto: Safelite
- Denver Color - Windows: Safelite
- Durango Colorado - Automotive: Safelite
- Fort Collins Color - Automotive: Safelite
- Grand Junction - Auto: Safelite
- Pueblo Color - Cars: Safelite
- Missoula Websites - Autos: Safelite
- Davis County - Automobile: Safelite
- Logan Utah - Automotive: Safelite
- Ogden, Utah - Automotive: Safelite
- Provo Utah - Cars: Safelite
- Saint George - Cars: Safelite
- Salt Lake Sites - Car Service / Parts: Safelite
- Tooele - Auto: Safelite
- Cheyenne, Wyoming. US - Auto: Safelite