Advance Auto Parts to Close 727 Stores Across U.S.

Advance Auto Parts plans to close hundreds of locations across the country, with a particular focus on California and the Pacific Northwest, as it attempts to shore up persistent quarterly losses. 

The North Carolina-based retail chain will shutter 727 stores, as well as four distribution centers across the West Coast, according to the Los Angeles Times. Advance Auto Parts operates roughly 4,700 locations, as well as 1,100 independently operated locations, across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. It operates 139 locations in California, according to the L.A. Times, though it’s unclear exactly how many of those storefronts will shutter.

It’s also unclear how many jobs will be affected as a result of the closures, which are planned to occur by mid-2025.

“Our four distribution centers on the West Coast serve a lower concentration of stores,” Shane O’Kelly, Advanced Auto Parts’ president and CEO, said in the company’s latest quarterly earnings call. “We believe that investing in other core areas of the business will help deliver stronger profitability.”

Before the market closed on Monday, the company’s stock was trading at around $43.30 per share, down 30 percent so far this year. The retailer posted a $6 million net loss on $2.1 billion of revenue this past quarter, though it’s still a marked improvement over the $62 million loss on $2.2 billion of revenue it reported during the third quarter last year. 

Advanced Auto Parts also closed this past quarter its $1.5 billion sale of its auto parts wholesale distributor, Worldpac, to investment firm Carlyle. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.