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Are we seeing the “Home Depot” effect in the Auto Parts Industry?

Joe Marconi
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LynxStarAuto Contributor

LynxStarAuto

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The Carquest acquisition only really helped us (the repair facilities). They now are the biggest distributor for the commercial segment, and added other part houses to the mix like Worldpac. Advance Commercial is giving Napa a run for their money. That is always a good thing, because competition keeps ppl honest.

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JimO Collaborator

JimO

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Joe's analogy is correct. The Advance acquisition of CarQuest came early to my area. The change was NOT good, no benefit only detriment. The Advance DIY business model was apparent to me based on the following: 1) Increased cost and list pricing. 2) Elimination of parts required by us but not required by the DIY's. 3) Print and radio spots offering "no charge" code reading, battery tests and battery replacements which not only placed Advance as my competition but also degraded the knowledge, equipment and effort required to diagnose a modern vehicle to a mere "no charge" accommodation.

 

Now the good news concerning Joe's last sentence about the big guys not changing. On Friday afternoon I received a call from a member of a business investment research firm who was hired by a group of investors to review Advance Auto Parts as a possible investment opportunity. This gentleman contacted me and reviewed my feelings about Advance because in the past I had posted comments about Advance on Auto Shop Owner. We need to know that our comments, praise or criticism, are being viewed by other people and some of them are Wall Street people. We never had an independent public platform that could reach so many people before. I am ashamed to say this but I never talked about business with shop owners in my immediate area no less the amount of people this forum reaches. We need to talk, we need to realize and understand that we are all facing similar problems and maybe together with careful consideration and open discussion we can make a change. Thanks again Joe for another great post.

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alfredauto Experienced

alfredauto

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The dealers in my outlying areas are becoming very commercial friendly. They see the opportunity. They come down from 100 miles away every day so we can put their parts on cars they aren't going to normally see, I like buying from the dealer the parts fit right and don't advertise free diagnosis.

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