Advance Auto Parts pledges to close more than 700 stores

(Photo: Business Wire)

(Photo: Business Wire)

Launching a sweeping corporate restructuring, Advance Auto Parts Inc. announced plans to close more than 500 corporate stores and 200 independently owned sites, as well as four distribution centers, by mid-2025.

In all, the company said it will close or exit 727 stores in what it calls an “asset optimization program.”

“The company is executing a strategic plan to improve business performance with a focus on core retail improvements,” the company said in a release Thursday. “The company has identified opportunities that it believes can improve adjusted operating income margin by more than 500-basis points through fiscal 2027.”

The plan is anchored on “three pillars” — closing stores, making better decisions about sourcing merchandising and consolidating distribution centers to operate 13 large facilities by 2026.

Asked if Dayton-area store closures are part of the company’s plans, a spokesman for the business forwarded recent corporate press releases. A list of specifically identified closures is not publicly available yet.

On its web site, Advance Auto Parts lists local locations at 5430 Springboro Pike, 434 Woodman Drive, 6450 Wilmington Pike and 5737 N Dixie Drive. There is also a Kettering site listed at 1330 E Stroop Road. Englewood has a location at 815 S Main St.

The company also lists locations at 1751 S Limestone St., 660 N. Limestone and 1831 E Main St. in Springfield.

Hamilton has stores at 323 N Erie Highway and 1215 Main St.

In third quarter 2024 results, the company said it saw net sales from continuing operations reaching $2.1 billion, down slightly from $2.2 billion in the third quarter of 2023. Comparable store sales decreased 2.3%.

Gross profit increased 11% to $907.9 million, or 42.3% of net sales compared with 36.9% in the third quarter of the prior year, the business said.

Said Shane O’Kelly, president and chief executive of Advance Auto Parts: “We are charting a clear path forward and introducing a new three-year financial plan, with a focus on executing core retail fundamentals to improve the productivity of all our assets and to create shareholder value.”

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