Al “AJ” Blair

Albert Blair was one of the pioneers in the Canadian Automotive Aftermarket industry.

Born on December 1, 1914, in Toronto. Albert’s father died at the Battle of Somme in

1917, leaving behind his two-year-old son. As a young man, he met and married Ruby.

Together, they raised their three children: Marilyn, Faye, and Robert.

Growing up, Albert displayed an entrepreneurial spirit. He honed his sales skills early,

working as a paperboy. He expanded his business by buying other routes and hiring

workers. He sold bread from a truck helping his stepfather, before working for his future

brother on law as a wagon jobber in the Dunnville, St. Catharines, and Welland areas.

In 1943, he started his own auto parts store, called Welland Automotive, which

employed 24 people, including a large machine shop. It was wildly successful.

In 1946, Charlie Prefontaine, the founder of United Auto Parts approached Albert to sell

his business. Albert accepted the offer as for him, it was a huge windfall. United Auto

Parts bought four other auto parts stores, which became known as James Cowan and

Company, headquartered in London, Ontario. Lou McKerlie assumed the position of

General Manager.

By 1948, Lou McKerlie opened his own auto parts store, taking key employees and

product lines from his former employer. After Lou’s departure, Albert was chosen by

Charlie Prefontaine to become the new General Manager of James Cowan and

Company. By 1950, the company had developed a distribution model with daily

replenishment and expanded to 17 branches. Albert, known as AJ, became the

President of the Ontario Division of United Auto Parts.

Albert started the UAP Associate Program by convincing Earl Wright in Chatham,

Ontario to become the first owner to believe in the programme. By 1962, he opened a

distribution centre in Toronto, on the sight now occupied by Mevotech, named

Canadian Automotive Warehousing Limited (CAWL). He hired Greg Stone, fresh out of

the MBA programme at Western, who eventually became the President of CAWL.

The new warehousing system introduced ideas such as, inventory replenishment

overnight, must-have items, catalogs, and price lists. These innovations laid the

foundation for many universal industry wide practices .

In 1966, United Auto Parts became a publicly traded company under the name UAP

Inc., with AJ as Vice President and Director. In 1970, AJ became President of UAP Inc.

and moved to Montreal temporarily. In 1972, he became Vice Chair of UAP, helping the

company to grow.

In the early 2000’s AJ wrote a retrospective on his career entitled “A View from the

Running Board” detailing his incredible journey, and I invite all of you to read it if you

can find a copy.

Albert J. Blair passed away at the age of 90 on May 9, 2004, leaving a significant legacy

in the automotive industry.