NOLN published its annual lists of the largest fast lube chains and other oil change providers in its March 2009 issue.

NOLN classifies Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express as an oil change-plus shop, a place that offers oil changes but not as its primary business model. Other examples include auto dealership-based oil change facilities, muffler shops, tire stores, general auto service shops as well as other mass merchant retailers.

Wal-Mart is far and away the largest oil change provider in the country, said NOLN. Rounding out the top five in the oil change-plus list were Goodyear Gemini Automotive Care (1,943 stores), Firestone Complete Auto Care (1,506), Midas Auto Service Experts (1,496) and Sears Auto Centers (843). All but Sears have more outlets than Jiffy Lube.

Seems like a lot more tire shops, full-service auto shops, dealerships, etc. are trying to elbow into an already crowded fast oil change market, NOLN Editor Garrett McKinnon told Lube Report. You can see some of the results in the fact that the overall fast lube population dropped by several hundred stores, the first time we’ve ever noticed such a dramatic dip in the lube industry. The study listed 53 fast lube chains operating 7,213 facilities as of Feb. 28, down 2.3 percent from the 2008 list.

Jiffy Lube continued to top the fast-lube chains list, with 1,999 stores, a 7 percent decline in total stores from 2008. The other largest fast-lube chains were Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change (887 stores), Valvoline Instant Oil Change (847), Texaco Express Lube (495) and Kwik Kar (386).

Heartland Automotive Services Inc., the largest U.S. Jiffy Lube franchisee, in February emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization with 396 stores, 42 fewer stores than when it entered bankruptcy in January 2008. NOLNs figures include that adjustment, McKinnon noted, which Heartland attributed to selling or closing underperforming properties or properties that were too geographically close to other facilities.

One noteworthy change was Jiffy Lubes decision to dramatically change its operating strategy, McKinnon said, selling all of its company-owned stores to franchisees and shuttering those it couldn’t sell. That’s the biggest shakeup at the nation’s largest fast lube chain since Jiffy Lube and Q Lube merged 10 years ago, he added.

The associated lube chains list of independent lube operators owning six or more branded facilities was headed by North Florida Lubes with 58 Texaco Xpress Lube locations, followed by Southern Express Lube, which reported 38 Mobile Lube Express and nine Shell Rapid Lubes locations.

McKinnon said that while NOLN didnt track regional data year over year, comparing the data with in-house studies we’ve done in previous years, it appears that the East Coast and Texas have recorded an uptick in lube center population during the past few years.

The studys ranking for U.S.-based oil change operations that have facilities overseas saw a change, with Mobil 1 Centers totaling 1,378 oil change facilities overseas, jumping past Midas, which reports 1,013 overseas facilities.

NOLNs full 2009 Tops in the Industry Ranking includes statistics on estimated overall dollar-figure sales of the fast lube industry, estimated do-it-yourself market share held by fast lubes, total number of fast lubes in operation and other key industry metrics.