Advance Auto Parts sees decrease in store sales, plans 700+ closures and job cuts

Advance Auto Parts, a major automotive supply chain, announced it will close more than 700 locations nationwide and cut several jobs by mid-2025 after revealing ongoing poor financial performance.

The company will close 523 corporate stores, exit 204 independent locations and close four distribution centers by mid-2025, according to federal filings.

Additionally, the company noted it will make “headcount reductions,” but did not specify a number or provide any other details.

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The company released details of its third quarter 2024 financial results on Thursday, showing some areas of financial strain and other areas of improvement.

The company’s store sales decreased by 2.3% from the same time last year to now, from $2.2 billion in 2023 to $2.1 billion in 2024.

However, Advance Auto Parts (AAP) did see a gross profit total of $907.9 million in Q3 of 2024, up 11% from Q3 last year.

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The company said it “incurred high labor-related expenses due to wage investments in frontline team members,” which were only partially offset by a reduction in marketing expenses.

AAP reported in its Q3 results that its business was negatively impacted by “headwinds in the period,” such as lost revenue from Hurricane Helene and downtime from the CrowdStrike outage, which are not included in general accounting.

It also took a hit in share costs by 34 cents.

The company posted a turnaround plan in its November filings, stating AAP aims to “improve business performance with a focus on core retail improvements” and show significant performance improvement by 2027.

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The plan includes cutting corporate and independent store locations by 727 stores, closing a handful of distribution centers, consolidating distribution centers to operate 13 large facilities by 2026, and opening 60 market hub locations by mid-2027.

AAP said factors considered when selecting new sites include population, demographics, traffic, vehicle profiles, real estate costs and the competitive landscape.

During FY 2024, until the company’s Q3 filings, 24 stores were opened or converted and 29 closed.

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At the end of 2024’s third fiscal quarter, the company had 4,781 stores compared to the end of 2023’s fourth fiscal quarter of 4,786 stores.