Pep Boys & Advance Auto

[Alpha8472]

I passed by a Pep Boys in the San Francisco Bay Area in San Leandro, and the sign has been removed. There is a temporary banner saying Advance Auto Parts coming soon.

The store will be branded Advance Auto Parts and Pep Boys will be only a tiny side logo.

[jamcool]

It’s already happening in other places, Pep Boys has become tires and auto service only and they have turned over the auto parts side to Advance.

[ClownLoach]

Pep Boys service and retail were separated into separate companies several years ago. They are eventually going to be service only and all retail space sold to other operators or closed. In California they sold the retail space to Advance Auto Parts, but have sold to different chains in other areas. I believe that this was discussed on prior posts. I just think that this looks really bad on the service side - I suspect that COVID prevented Advance from getting started up and as a result customers walked up to empty, liquidated retail stores and probably didn't trust that there would be anyone to stand behind repairs done in the shop.

[storewanderer]

Noticed a co-branded Pep Boys Repair and Auto Zone in Highlands Ranch, CO.

Pep Boys seems so hard up to get out of retail they will let anyone (or nobody) have the space.

[ClownLoach]

Noticed a co-branded Pep Boys Repair and Auto Zone in Highlands Ranch, CO.

Pep Boys seems so hard up to get out of retail they will let anyone (or nobody) have the space.

Since the stores were dogs it is a very interesting way to make a big profit. They keep the building and lease the retail space to another parts chain. They keep the busy auto shop and spend minimal investment on division (so far they seem to be getting away with simple drywall separation and building a second set of bathrooms and offices). So the rent from the parts chain is probably more than enough to make the auto shop profitable as a standalone business. And they are very focused on corporate vehicle repair contracts to keep the shops busy - noticed that a local Pep Boys shop had many Amazon and FedEx delivery vans in for service. I think they do maintenance for some of the car rental chains as well, basic oil changes and such which is cheap but steady business.

The multi-billionaire Carl Icohn is the architect of the operation and he is the one who turned Pep Boys into Pep Boys (Manny Moe and Jack) service - and Icohn Automotive Retail. So even where the Pep Boys retail store still stands it is borrowing, and probably renting, its own name. This reminds me of the way Lampert cut up Sears, but this is open and transparent and quite frankly makes sense as there were too many national parts chains but few truly national repair chains focused on B2B. Not to mention that modern cars are nearly impossible for the consumer to repair which is by design. Smart guy, he is going to make billions more liquidating all these parts stores one state at a time until they're all gone.

[storewanderer]

Noticed a co-branded Pep Boys Repair and Auto Zone in Highlands Ranch, CO.

Pep Boys seems so hard up to get out of retail they will let anyone (or nobody) have the space.

Since the stores were dogs it is a very interesting way to make a big profit. They keep the building and lease the retail space to another parts chain. They keep the busy auto shop and spend minimal investment on division (so far they seem to be getting away with simple drywall separation and building a second set of bathrooms and offices). So the rent from the parts chain is probably more than enough to make the auto shop profitable as a standalone business. And they are very focused on corporate vehicle repair contracts to keep the shops busy - noticed that a local Pep Boys shop had many Amazon and FedEx delivery vans in for service. I think they do maintenance for some of the car rental chains as well, basic oil changes and such which is cheap but steady business.

The multi-billionaire Carl Icohn is the architect of the operation and he is the one who turned Pep Boys into Pep Boys (Manny Moe and Jack) service - and Icohn Automotive Retail. So even where the Pep Boys retail store still stands it is borrowing, and probably renting, its own name. This reminds me of the way Lampert cut up Sears, but this is open and transparent and quite frankly makes sense as there were too many national parts chains but few truly national repair chains focused on B2B. Not to mention that modern cars are nearly impossible for the consumer to repair which is by design. Smart guy, he is going to make billions more liquidating all these parts stores one state at a time until they're all gone.

Pep Boys also has a franchise type store called Auto Value Stores where they basically keep the Pep Boys fixtures/merchandising but have a franchisee run the store. There are some locations where the parts area has switched over to this format.

In Reno and Sparks the two Pep Boys liquidated their stores last year and have kept the shops open. They are/were trying to get someone else into the space but so far it did not happen. One of the stores seemed to do pretty good business but there is an Auto Zone and an O'Reilly across the street so it wasn't a big deal to close the store. The other store was sort of oddly placed for an auto parts store near the mall and I don't think it did much retail business. I have noticed the same with the service business having those vehicles inside.

Pep Boys also bought some freestanding auto repair shops in Nevada, the name escapes me, Break Team or something. There were shops in Reno, Sparks, (those two- about 2 miles from the Pep Boys stores) and Carson City that were crudely rebranded Pep Boys and closed within a year or so of the rebranding.

The old Grand Auto chain that Kragen and then O'Reilly bought used to have auto repair bays in its stores but Kragen shut those down immediately. Ultimately those spaces turned into "mini warehouses" for O'Reilly and it worked out really well for them. They were dead space for the old poorly run Kragen chain.

[mbz321]

Pep Boys also has a franchise type store called Auto Value Stores where they basically keep the Pep Boys fixtures/merchandising but have a franchisee run the store. There are some locations where the parts area has switched over to this format.

I think it might be called 'Auto Plus', not Auto Value (unless they are using different companies in different regions). I know my father recently picked up a car light bulb at the local Pep Boys that still has a parts department and the receipt said Auto Plus with no reference to Pep Boys. Most of them in my area lost their parts department completely, but I think at least one is gaining an Advance Auto, since there isn't an Advance in the immediate area.

[Super S]

Auto Value is a buying group. Baxter Auto Parts was affiliated with them for many years, but is now affiliated with Advance/Carquest. I don't think Auto Value was part of Advance/Carquest, as Baxter has removed that signage (but curiously is not moving fast to put up the Carquest signage)

[storewanderer]

Pep Boys also has a franchise type store called Auto Value Stores where they basically keep the Pep Boys fixtures/merchandising but have a franchisee run the store. There are some locations where the parts area has switched over to this format.

I think it might be called 'Auto Plus', not Auto Value (unless they are using different companies in different regions). I know my father recently picked up a car light bulb at the local Pep Boys that still has a parts department and the receipt said Auto Plus with no reference to Pep Boys. Most of them in my area lost their parts department completely, but I think at least one is gaining an Advance Auto, since there isn't an Advance in the immediate area.

Looking at the store in question there is a sign out front that says Auto Plus at present, also in 2017 a sign hanging on the wall that says Auto Plus. However looking at a photo from 2019 there is a sign in the window that says Auto Value Stores Store Hours. So I am not really sure what this place is.

The store is in Puyallup, WA. The inside still has Pep Boys fixtures, promotion signs, shelf tags, POS system, etc. Not sure what the deal there is. You have to walk through the store to get to the auto service counter in there.

[luckysaver]

Covina and West Covina (CA) Pep Boys stores getting co-branded as well. Both stores are along Azusa Ave.

Advance Auto Parts has the retail shop while Pep Boys has the service bays.

Advance used to be part of Sears in the 1980's until it was spun off in the '90's and a just few years ago bought the Die Hard product line from Sears. Coincidence that the rebranded Covina Advance-Pep Boys store is about a block south of the former Sears Auto Center (now an indoor archery range) so they've kind of returned to the area.

luckysaver