Advance Auto Parts

Advance Auto Parts, Inc.

File:Advance Auto Parts Logo.svg
Company type	Public (NYSE: AAP)
Industry	Auto Parts Retail products = Replacement automotive parts & accessories
Founded	1932
Headquarters	Roanoke, VA, USA
Key people	John C. Brouillard (Chairman of the Board) Darren R. Jackson (CEO) & (Director)
Revenue	US$5.41 Billion (FY 2009)
Operating income	US$454 Million (FY 2009)
Net income	US$270 Million (FY 2009)
Total assets	US$3.07 Billion (FY 2009)
Total equity	US$1.28 Billion (FY 2009)
Number of employees	27,396 - January 2009
Website	AdvanceAutoParts.com

Advance Auto Parts in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP), headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, is the second-largest retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States. AAP was founded in 1932 and had 2008 sales of approx. $5.1B. AAP operates 3,540 stores in 40 US states and employs over 51,000 Team Members across all operations.

In 2005, Advance Auto Parts purchased Autopart International, Inc. which operates 202 stores along the Atlantic Seaboard.

History

In 1929 the founders of the Pep Boys opened Advance Stores, LLC., with two stores in Roanoke and one in Lynchburg, Virginia. On April 29, 1932, Arthur Taubman purchased Advance Stores. He promptly closed the second store in Roanoke, which was located only three blocks from the first.

The first major expansion of Advance Auto Parts was in 1998 when the company acquired the remaining operations of Western Auto, an auto parts and general store retailer. Most of the Western Auto operations had been taken over by Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1987.

In April 2001, Advance Auto Parts acquired Carport Auto Parts, a regional retail chain with 29 stores in Alabama and Mississippi. On November 28, Advance acquired 671 Discount Auto Parts, Inc., a regional auto parts chain in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Upon completion of this merger, Advance Auto Parts became a publicly traded company, listed as a common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AAP. The year ended with 2,484 stores in 38 states.

In July 2002, Advance Auto Parts received bankruptcy court approval to acquire 57 Trak Auto Parts Stores in northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and eastern Maryland.

Advance now operates over 3,500 locations in 40 states including Puerto Rico & the Virgin Islands using the following branded names: Advance Auto Parts, Advance Discount Auto Parts, and Western Auto (Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands).

Also, in 2010 Advance Auto Parts announced a deal with Monster Jam to become the title sponsor. The company sponsors a truck on the circuit called the Advance Auto Parts Grinder.

Recognitions

Advance Auto Parts is the second-largest automotive aftermarket retailer in the United States based on sales and store count. The company premiered on the Fortune 500 list of companies in 2003 at No. 466 and has remained on the list since that time. As of January 2006, it was ranked at No. 1,497 on the Forbes magazine "World's Biggest Public Companies" list, and in 2005 Forbes named it as being the best-managed company in the retail sector.

Advance's organizational development and training programs were named to Training Magazine's Top 100 list in 2003 at No. 54, and the company has remained on the list since that time. Advancedate's Information Technology department has been nationally recognized by being named to the Information Week 500 list of top ranking business users of technology every year since 2003, when the company debuted on the list at No. 448.

Advance has received numerous recognitions for charitable contributions. The company has been nationally recognized for its fundraising for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), having donated more than $20 million since 1994.

External links

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• Advance Auto Parts
• Advance Auto Parts Mobile Web Site