It’s been a year marked by undercurrents of unease in the car industry. From layoffs at automakers to beloved aftermarket brands declaring bankruptcy, headlines have left enthusiasts wondering where doom and gloom will come from next, and as it turns out, it might be from where you buy your car parts. Hundreds of Advance Auto Parts locations are shutting down in the next few months, meaning there’s a good chance you could lose a local auto parts store soon.
Actually, it’s bigger than that. In addition to hundreds of Advance Auto Parts locations, the company is also getting out of franchise locations, and downsizing its distribution network. As Reuters reports:
As part of its turnaround efforts, Advance Auto Parts announced plans to close 523 corporate stores, exit 204 independent locations, and shutter four distribution centers by mid-2025. The company aims to improve its adjusted operating income margin by over 500 basis points through fiscal 2027.
Holy crap. If my math checks out, 727 retail locations will be affected by this restructuring, including a whopping 10.6 percent of all corporate-owned Advance Auto Parts stores. Those are some massive cuts that could result in hundreds of job losses, and it makes you wonder what exactly happened.
Well, the truth is that Advance Auto Parts has been struggling for a while. In November 2023, the company reported losses of $0.83 cents per share, and considering it had more than 59 million outstanding shares at the time, we’re talking total losses in excess of $48 million. Clearly, something had to change, and it had to change relatively quickly.
Flash forward roughly a year to now, and Advance has found a lifeline by selling business-to-business subsidiary WorldPac to private equity firm Carlyle Group for $1.5 billion. Depending on how WorldPac is managed going forward, this might be an even bigger deal than closing a huge number of retail locations, because pretty much every shop that works on European cars uses WorldPac to source OE parts using the company’s speedDIAL portal, shown above.
At the same time, things have turned around enough for Advance Auto Parts to be nigh-on breakeven. For the third quarter of 2024, the company reported losses of four cents per share, considerably better than the situation a year before but still not in the zone of profitability. While closing hundreds of locations ought to swing things in the right direction, what headwinds put Advance here in the first place?
Well, Reuters claims that fewer people are repairing cars at home, and while there’s likely some truth to that, it probably isn’t the only explanation. For starters, as commerce in general has shifted from brick-and-mortar to online for many industries, auto parts has followed suit. This means that companies with less overhead in their models, such as RockAuto’s plan of being entirely online, can be competitive on a nationwide scale. Even Amazon is cashing in on auto parts, with its Automotive Part Finder function. If it isn’t in stock at the local auto parts store but you can get it from Amazon the next day, how many people would go through Amazon?
The other side of things is a supply chain crunch. It’s no real secret that auto parts suppliers have been under some serious pressure over the past few years, from inflation affecting cost of materials to reduced automaker demand hurting the OEM side of the business to shipping issues affecting timeliness, these are all hurdles that end up being passed onto retailers, and if you’re a retailer that doesn’t use a lean model, you have less ability to absorb some of those fluctuations.
Of course, heading into a more tumultuous era like the past four years, it probably helps if a company doesn’t spend big. In 2019, CNBC reported that Advance Auto Parts purchased the DieHard battery brand from Sears for $200 million in cash. Oh, and then Advance paid Bruce Willis to start in a “Die Hard”-themed TV ad in 2020. At the same time, Advance continued expansion in 2021, inking agreements to lease 109 Pep Boys retail stores in California, converting them to Advance Auto Parts locations. Keep in mind, this was fully in the depths of a digital-first era, so it might not have been the most prudent capital decision.
It’s worth noting that the physical parts store of old still has a place. If you need a part right now and it’s in stock at a local auto parts store, chances are you’re taking the bus, going on a bike ride, or taking another car down to the store to get what you need. If your daily driver breaks at 3:00 p.m. on a Sunday and you need to clock in at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, you’re looking to get the job done if you can wrench, and the extra cost of going local is worth it compared to the alternative of calling into work.
Still, in a digital-first era, perhaps scaling back isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe it’s time to be more conscientious about the parts in stock, pay better wages for greater knowledge behind the counter, and find ways to be more price-competitive with online retailers. The losses that come with shuttering hundreds of Advance Auto Parts locations will have a serious impact, but for a situation to end up like this, it usually requires people in charge not seeing the forest for the trees.
(Photo credits: Advance Auto Parts, WorldPac)
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Not a lot of love for Advance Auto in these comments. Maybe it’s an anomaly, but my local Advance Auto is excellent. They have some real car people working the counter, and if they don’t have what I need, they’ll have it first thing the next morning. I’ll be very sad if my local store is on this list.
But then I’ve bought a lot of parts on Amazon lately, so I guess I’m partly to blame.
Ones near my house are hit and miss. Some of them are knowledgeable but many of them are ‘button pushers’. I usually have already looked up the part on their app and screen shot it when I come in to make sure I get right thing.
I used to go to them second after O’Reilly’s in a pinch, but they have gone so far down hill, they only get my business in a dire emergency any more. and usually they are unable to offer an option at those times, so it is a moot point.
I used to hate autozone, but they have a warehouse store near me and the people there are willing to let you into the warehouse to id parts to make sure you get what you need or find something you can work with. Hoses and Belts for example, I do appreciate that.
Apropos this conversation, a local Advance recently moved to a bigger location (strip mall down the street). I walked by the now vacant location being scrubbed out, and was stuck when I saw ancient Trak Auto wall graphics now exposed!
Maybe it’s just nostalgia, but I really liked Trak back in the day, and felt the service/quality was better. I still have a bunch of the free little pamphlets they gave out that would generally describe how to do various repairs/diagnostics.
For me Trak is a nostalgia hit. I’d go with my Dad all the time when we/he was working on his Fiat, Dodge Colt, Chrysler LeBaron, you name it. But that strip mall is gone too now.
Not shocked. The stores haven’t made any improvements. Having items in stock helps. But, some common stuff was better at the dealer. Oil filters, for example. $20 for a generic filter instead of the OEM that’s available at the dealer for $7? Or a water pump for a Toyota 2.5 4 cylinder. $200 for white box Chinesium available for next day by end of the day or $250 OEM part at the dealer who can have it in my hands by 11 AM? The dealer got my extra $50 for the quality and convenience.
Huh. My small town has every major auto parts store and several independents, but not a single Advanced.
Thirty bucks. That’s basically my cut off of how much I’m willing to pay over online prices for a part just to have it “right now” vs waiting a day or two.
Some parts stores get it and will do deals by assigning me a “wholesale” slush account they keep for folks like me but others will hold fast.
The Autozones and other chain auto part stores were just like the Drugstores (CVS) and Big Box stores they built every where. Basically they pushed all the small local mom & pop stores out of business. I’ve gone to primarily buying all my parts on-line whether its Rock Auto or Amazon as long as I know ahead of time on what I need to replace.
There are definitely too many of these chain parts stores out there. Every rural town in NC that I used to go to for work had at least 3 of the big 4 chain stores when they probably have the customer base for 1.
Of all of the big chain auto parts stores, Advance is the one I always sort of forget about. If I need something right now, my usual order of checking goes O’Reilly, NAPA, and Auto Zone in that order. I don’t think I’ve even been in an Advance more than a handful of times in my life.
These stores haven’t changed at all since I was a manager there in the early 00’s. It was sometime after they bought Discount. Heck, even the computers are exactly the same. They still sell the same junk in the same way. Aisles full of things nobody wants and shelves stocked with all the parts for not your car. They were always pushing you to sell nonsense like snacks and drinks and even back then it seemed like the focus had already shifted to selling anything but car parts. I go to Advance to drop off used oil and that’s about it.
I’m more sad about the future of WorldPAC. I’ve spent HUNDREDS of hours poring over SpeedDial exploring parts for my E30 race car over the years and they’re also a major customer of my employer. Any time I see a company sold off to a private equity firm I think it’s only a matter of time before they go downhill.
But I’m admittedly part of the problem, if I don’t need a part immediately I’ll usually buy it online. That said, I’ve only ordered from RockAuto like twice ever because by the time you factor in shipping, other sources ended up being cheaper.
It’s unfortunate to his had to happen to brick-and-mortars, but I get it. Doesn’t not suck though. There’s two Advance Autos within about 20 minutes of the farm, and the local distribution center is only about a half hour the opposite direction. If I have a truck go down and need it back up and running ASAP, Advance is usually who I’m calling first, though the local Napa is a fairly safe bet too. For planned repairs or vehicles that don’t need ASAP treatment, both Amazon and Rockauto take precedent. That Rockauto discount has probably saved me thousands over the years, and for non-immediate repairs, I understand why Advance can’t compete with that.
I go Rock Auto because I can usually pick a part from a reputable supplier. Parts are available on Amazon, many of them with 0 reviews and of unknown quality.
Local places are hit-or-miss. Some of them have no way to search other stores in the area for the part, so you have search store-by-store. Only Napa seems to have guys behind the counter that can even come close to helping you find something to fit if your application doesn’t exactly match an OEM installation, but they are usually open fewer hours than more consumer-oriented places.
I love having parts stores around, but it would be great if they focused a little more on parts for repairs and maybe a little less on accessories and cleaning supplies.
The problem that scares me with Amazon is their mixed/combined inventory. Just because you buy from a reputable seller, doesn’t mean you get your actual parts from them. I used to make ~100 purchases a year from Amazon, and I started using them back in like ’06 or ’07. I started massively scaling back in like ’19 or ’20 because of my fear of getting fakes. That, and I found myself just buying a lot of stuff I didn’t actually need. Now I might make two or three purchases a year from them.
I feel like they sell a few on Amazon until they get negative reviews and then just rebrand the exact same item and start fresh again.
Yeah, I only order my oil filters from a performance car parts place as there are apparently a lot of knockoff filters for Subarus, particularly on Amazon. Like, WTF, how profitable can that even be? I try not to use Amazon as much as possible, but every time I go to a new place (if I can find what I’m looking for) I likely pay more, have to wait longer, and they inundate me with spam email from themselves and whoever they sell my info to. Unsubscribing only seems to encourage them as they know they found an account where they aren’t going directly to junk mail (which only seems to pick up about 1/2 of most of these companies’ messages).
I find NAPA frustrating because their site apparently considers “in stock” and “can be delivered to the store the next day” to be the same thing.
The last time this happened was a year or so ago. I wanted to pick up a heel dolly to do some metalwork, and the site said the item was on the shelf. No, it was not. 😐
Home Depot is the worst for this. Filter for In-Stock only and it shows locations 45 miles away with inventory.
I don’t trust them if online says less than 5 of the item I want. I drove to a Home Depot last year to get an impact gun and it clearly was not on the shelf.
I grabbed an employee and stood while he checked every location for that brand only to find the same thing I had figured out. Felt a little bad for a second since he had to climb to the top for some locations and unlock and dig through others. Then I thought he may have been the one who counted wrong and didn’t feel so bad anymore.
Finally found it at another store, opened the box and it was the wrong product in the box. Factory sealed box, brand new unused tool, but it was a 3/8″ unit in a box for a 1/2″. Of course, it was the only one they had in stock so I had to continue on.
OMG yes I forgot about that point too. Their inventory controls and loss prevention are so fucking shit that even if it says 20 in stock it’s possible somebody just walked out with the whole case.
I do not believe the in stock numbers if they are very low.
I’m suspicious if they’re too high as well. I went to a Home Depot and needed a 8″ sonotube. Online inventory showed 49 in stock. They had none. But since they thought they had 49, they never reordered. I found one being used as a display and took that.
Ha me too! I’ve gotten burned by that a few times. Now, I always look for what would seem to be a reasonable number of that thing in physical stock.
Too low a number increases the odds that someone’s recently bought the last of the low stock; too high, that nobody’s checked stock in a long time.
Esp. at a place like Home Depot where everything’s out; unless it’s bags of nuts/bolts, I refuse to believe they really have that much of something.
Also, speaking of impact. Walmart has a $60 impact with battery and charger that beat Ryobi and Dewalt. Ordered one to be delivered today for some weekend wrenching.
WalMart Gen2 Hyper-Tough Ruins our Entire Rankings
That’s a good deal. I have been sticking with Milwaukee for cordless tools. I find different batteries / chargers to be a pain in the butt. Just picked up a chainsaw from them last week because I had to cut up a tree to get back in my driveway.
Even their local inventory isn’t correct. I went there for something they had 5 of in stock to find there weren’t any (and there wasn’t a run on them, I can’t recall what it was, but it was not that kind of item). Guy working there told me not to trust the inventory qty if it was less than 10. Sounds like they have a bang up system!
And every brick and mortar store that has an online website should be required to have ‘in-store stock’ button. I dont care if you can get it 3rd party, I only want to see what I can drive over and pick it up today.
I ran into this exact issue a few months ago for the first time. I was pretty ticked as I went out of my way during soccer practice to try and hit up the NAPA that was open a little later. Really annoying. I ended up ordering the item from amazon in the parking lot and it was delivered next day to my house not the store.
We were screaming about this for longer than you realize. They were showing “Available today” which everyone took as “now”. They finally changed it to “In-store” and “Available today” but you can’t imagine how often people still get it wrong. It’s not intuitive and believe me on our side it can be a nuisance.
What’s frustrating about these parts places is they always seem to not have the part I need in stock, but they can have it tomorrow. Kinda really need it today so can get to work tomorrow!
Did the brakes on Lexus RX300 awhile back. Had to go to 3 different locations to get full set of pads/rotors for front/back.
Maybe they shouldnt do those 20% off online order coupons so much? I take full advantage of those. Order online and then drive two blocks to pickup.
The reason I just order parts off RockAuto is because when I go to Advance (or really, any of the major parts store chains) there seems to be 3 employees in the whole store. 1 is eternally on the phone trying to look up a part for someone whose sum total knowledge of the car they drive is what color it is, 1 is also eternally out in the parking lot checking a battery/installing headlights, and the third employee/manager is off on a parts run that takes all day. There’s 17 people in line waiting to checkout- nobody at the register- and another 5 waiting to look something up at the counter. I walk in, decide it’s not worth the hassle, and then order it online.
I stop into the local oReillys about once a year to empty a 5 gallon pail of used oil or drop off shitty batteries, that’s about it. Stuff I’d routinely buy at a parts store- cans of brakleen, wipers, jugs of Our Lord and Savior Rotella T6, all come from wally world, which I’ve found is usually close enough to Amazon prices anyway.
Whenever I go into my Autozone I am always the only customer there. Just me and the 3 bored kids at the counter, every time.
NAPA store 12 miles away is a Trumper with zilch inventory, NAPA 20 miles away won’t make their inventory appear online. O’Rielly is online and useless. Rock Auto prices are cheap until you add the shipping. So my go to is Advance Auto 40 miles away that even lets me go behind the counter to find obscure parts… Hope they ain’t closing!
Yes, the online inventory is quite useful when need a hot part. We have a dozen or so locations in my area with varying levels of stock.
Rock Auto’s shipping seems entirely reasonable to me, especially when you can get everything from the same warehouse. When you need five things and they come from four different warehouses is when it’s a problem.
The other problem is if there is a problem. Then I have to pay to ship the part back, and then pay to ship the replacement part back to me.
I actually like Advance Auto the most of the chains. They typically have what I want in stock, and I can order it online and go pick it up immediately. Plus I can use the online discounts (coupons and Speed Perks) and get some money back on gas through Fuel Rewards. They also frequently have non-house brand stuff available, unlike O’Reilly and the Zone.
If it’s something they screwed up (or it got damaged in shipping), I’ve never had to pay return shipping. If it’s been a mistake on my side, of course I’d have to pay shipping back.
I’ll be interested in Matt Sexton’s insider views on this for sure!
Others here have made the good points already, but I’ll just add that at least by me, it does seem like there’s maybe too much store location density.
Sure, that’s good when one of them doesn’t have what I need; there’s likely to be another close by one that actually does, but I’d prefer the original store just having it in stock.
AutoZone just converted a closed CVS near me….3doors down from the existing Advance. And maybe 3 miles away are another set of parts stores, AutoZone/Advance/OReilys.
At least by me, Advance store locations outnumber Autozone by like 3 to 1, and maybe 5 to 1 for O’Reilly’s.
Around here, they like to partner up…Advance/Autozone, Lowes/Home Depot, Walgreens/CVS. They build one and then competitor puts in one across the street…literally! I joke with my wife that they split development costs by ‘tag teaming’ location scouting.
We learned about that in business school. It’s a thing.
I like the small town which happens to be the biggest city in my county now, I can hit all three of the major auto retailers of my area in a 1.5 mile loop from my house.
Last time i went to advance, i asked the counter kid what size wipers my car takes. He proceeded to tell me he doesn’t use his wipers, he uses Rain-x. So there’s that.
He probably doesn’t use a seatbelt because the car has airbags too.
And O’Reily’s stock price is now over $1200 a share……I sold mine a few years ago for FAR less than this……..so why is O’Reilys still going crazy?
This is so dumb. Closing down a ton of stores is not the answer. You want to know what the answer is? Stop wasting capital and infrastructure capacity handling stupid crap like chrome skull tire valve caps and fake carbon fiber license plate frames. Try focusing on auto parts. FFS, it’s right there in your name.
Honestly, that junk has high margins and likely help keep these stores afloat.
Like how our Kroger’s grocery store how has a whole ‘clothing’ section?? High margin vs. food.
Yep. And that has the added benefit of no shelf life concerns.
Just like (most of) the rest of retail, chain auto parts stores are only useful anymore when you need something RIGHT NOW. Everything you need *soon* is available online for cheaper.
Random example: Monroe OESpectrum front struts for a 2010 Corolla
Advance Auto, $200 for the pair
Rock Auto, $90 for the pair.
The real downside of this is that eventually there won’t be anywhere to take used oil.
Walmart ain’t going nowhere.
Walmart makes me leave my 5 gal bucket if I want to drop off oil.
Advance lets me go in the back and dump it myself and keep my bucket so I don’t need to buy it again.
Maybe this is a local thing.
I put everything into empty washer fluid bottles (or “gallon” sized used oil containers). Super easy to do with a Fumoto valve and hose…
Put the used oil back into the container you bought it in.
That sucks ass if you buy by the quart.
Jiffy Lube has me dump my oil in their catch trolley in the pit. They don’t want to deal with my containers.
The ocean isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, in fact, it’s getting closer everyday.
Don’t be silly, the ocean is for disposing of dead batteries, not engine oil.
Fortunately, my state requires anywhere that sells new oil, to also take in used oil. There’s a bit more nuance to it than that, but it basically means any auto parts place, and auto repair place, has to take in used oil for free (up to 5 gallons).
Check for city / municipal programs. Just a few blocks north of me there’s a public waste oil dump station, all self serve so no waiting around for someone to dump your oil.
Most of our county ‘convenience centers’ aka ‘trash’ have places to dump oil and other fluids. One near where I work, just have to remember to deviate my commute on way home to drop off.
I’m so conflicted with this. I try to support my local auto parts stores (Autozone, Advance Auto, and O’Reillys) when I can, but it’s getting hard. Stuff like oil and oil filters is so much cheaper from Amazon. They rarely have the parts I need in stock anymore. The employees at the stores that used to be pretty knowledgeable have been replaced with people that don’t seem to know anything about cars or fight with me when I go in knowing exactly what I need. Like, I’ve gone in asking for 3′ piece of brake line with the part number I need and they insist on looking up in the computer if it’s right for my car, and then ask me what if MG B is the make or the model name.
The worst for me lately is that the prices in some of the stores near me are more expensive in store than if I buy them online for in-store pickup. And that’s before I use the internet coupons. Or if I put something in my cart and leave the site, the next day they will offer me 20% off. My thrifty-ness hates these games about pricing.
I know I’ll miss the shops when they aren’t around, but there doesn’t seem to be a good solution for them to remain and be profitable.
Well put – I too get frustrated when anything beyond basic+ consumables is “we can order it for you.” Yeah, I can just do that myself, and probably for cheaper.
The pricing thing is such a great point. I wear suits to work, and for years, men’s clothing stores did the same thing. I’d happily have bought a new suit in store (prefer it in fact, as I could see how it actually looks on me), but they’d steadfastly refuse to honor their much cheaper internet prices. I would have thought they’d want to encourage brick and mortar shopping, or at least not discourage it.
Look for a NAPA, if available. I won’t go anywhere else for anything past the odd quart of oil or wipers.
See, the thing with that thinking of “I can get it cheaper online”….(and trust me, I struggle with it as well) is, then you’re in the race to the bottom of just how cheap do you want it until quality is being affected? It’s AA now but, trust me, you’re going to continue to see these dominos fall over the next decade until there’s no brick and mortars left and we’re at the mercy of crappy, impersonal retailers who, you’re just a number on the internet. I really feel like the country is going through a “death by a thousand cuts” in the retail world over the past 5 years.
I know some don’t have the luxury of paying a bit more but I 100% don’t use Amazon and will pay a bit more to keep locals employed and some actual human interaction/investment going as we need more of that IMHO.
One of the reasons I tend not to shop locally anymore is that they don’t have quality parts though. I can often get OEM online for cheaper than the B&M store’s house brand, which may or may not be good enough. If it were just price I’d be more inclined to get the instant gratification of local shopping, but when it’s both more expensive and lower quality I just can’t do it.
That’s true – I don’t tend to get the important parts there (brakes, rotors and other critical components) but man, for getting oil, a battery, a quick tire or hose patch….these places can be a literal life saver.
It’s tough, for sure
As an Advance customer I was kinda shocked when I read this. My view from main street was that they were winning the consumer battle with AutoZone. But maybe the playing field has tilted toward more professional outfits like NAPA and even O’Reillys. After getting disappointed with parts quality and availability at Advance I have shifted my business that way. I also RockAuto, Amazon, and even eBay occasionally.
I use ebay a ton, especially over Amazon. Ebay Motors has much better transparency – good sellers can really set themselves apart with pics, part numbers, the sort of thing that gives you confidence, whereas I find Amazon to still be fairly rudimentary and easy for shady sellers to just put random stuff up.
Good. I hope all of these franchise auto “parts” stores go out of business. They sell shitty parts at an insane markup. I can’t remember the last time I bought something at one (although the local Auto Zone does get a lot of used oil from me).
Literally nothing sold at AA or Auto Zone is in stock for European cars *and* of sufficient quality. It’s all Chinese garbage, much of which won’t even work at all in the first place, often sold for more than the actual OE part.
Companies like FCP Euro that put customers first and make an effort to stock high quality parts at competitive prices are the way of the future. Even Rock Auto is a pretty good source for parts for non-Euro stuff.
I have to use FCP Euro, at least to get parts numbers. I drive a Jetta Sportwagen, and the car is basically a long Golf with the Jetta name, and that seems to confuse everyone at the counter of the local auto parts stores. I’ve been told the wrong oil/air/cabin/fuel filter at each of them, same with pretty much any other part I’ve needed. I end up at FCP Euro and find the exact part, then look around to find it for a lower price.
That said, I do use Autozone occasionally for the basics like fluids, but I don’t even remember the last time I even saw an Advance Auto Parts.
Even with fluids – auto parts stores markup stuff like oil 50% more than Walmart. Who is buying this stuff?
And yeah, I remember a time when people working at auto parts stores, especially family owned, non-franchise businesses, were a wealth of knowledge. Not anymore.
I thought it was because of the reduction in David’s fleet!
Thanks, Ed Vance