Raleigh-based Advance Auto to close 700 stores as it tries to rebound
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Advance Auto Parts, one of Raleigh's two Fortune 500 companies, is closing hundreds of stores nationwide by mid-2025 as the company continues to restructure its finances under new leadership.
Why it matters: Advance Auto has long had a presence in Raleigh, but it officially moved its corporate headquarters to North Hills in 2018 after agreeing to a $12 million incentive package with the state. It employs hundreds here at its headquarters.
- But the company has struggled since the pandemic, as rising costs and supply chain issues weigh on its revenue.
- That's led to layoffs, the hiring of a new CEO, the selling off of parts of the company and the termination of its incentive agreement with the state.
Driving the news: Advance reported on Thursday that it lost $6 million in the third quarter, falling short of the profit that analysts had expected, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- In response, the company decided to close around 500 stores as well as about 200 independently owned stores that it considered underperforming. That is around 15% of Advance Auto's more than 4,700 stores.
- An unknown number of employees will be laid off as part of the moves.
State of play: Advance executives said that consumers still seem more hesitant to spend money on aftermarket car parts coming out of the pandemic and that uncertainty around the election and other events, like Hurricane Helene and the Crowdstrike outage, hurt sales.
What they're saying: "Making the decision to close such a meaningful percentage of our store base was not an easy one as it affects a significant number of our team members," Advance Auto CEO Shane O'Kelly told investors. "However, we believe this action is prudent to support the long-term health of the company."