Chief was founded in 1955 in Norwalk, California by Vern Johnson and Lorin Tuthill.^[1] The chain grew to 119 stores, mostly in California, by the time it was purchased by Southland in 1979. It was purchased by Southland Corporation in 1979,^[2] along with Citgo and Movie Quik. The company was based in Dallas, Texas and operated as a division of Southland Corporation until 1990. The company expanded in 1985 by acquiring locations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama by purchasing Honey's Auto Parts in Nashville.^[3] At the same time, Chief also acquired 77 Checker Auto Parts locations in Oklahoma and Texas from Lucky Stores when Lucky decided to withdraw Checker from those areas.^[4]

In 1988, Southland sold Chief Auto Parts to an investor group led by Chief management and Shearson Lehman Brothers for $130 million.^[5] Six years later, Chief Auto Parts was acquired by Trust Company of the West, a Los Angeles-based investment group, and the management of Chief Auto Parts for an undisclosed amount to primarily pay off General Electric Capital which had acquired Shearson Lehman's share of the company.^[6] In 1995, Chief Auto Parts acquired Houston-based Hi-Lo Automotive, with its 191 stores in Texas, Louisiana and California, for $121 million.^[7][8] At the time of the acquisition, Chief had more than 500 stores in California, Texas, Nevada, Tennessee, Arkansas and Arizona.^[8]

In 1998, Trust Company of the West sold Chief to Memphis, Tennessee based AutoZone for $280 million in cash and debt assumption.^[9][10][11] At the time of the sale, Chief had 556 auto parts stores. From 1992 until its merger with AutoZone, the company's CEO was David H. Eisenberg.