Advance Auto Parts announces layoffs at Raleigh headquarters
Advance Auto Parts, Raleigh’s only Fortune 500 company, confirmed Wednesday it will eliminate around 400 positions, including some at its local headquarters.
Earlier in the day, Advance Auto informed investors it would make “significant cost reductions” as it looks to rebound from its recent sluggish financial performance.
“We are moving forward with a sense of urgency to help stabilize the company and return to profitable growth,” Advance Auto CEO Shane O’Kelly said.
O’Kelly, who was named CEO in August, added the company would end several initiatives he believed “were distracting” from its core business of selling auto parts. . He stated upcoming changes should save at least $150 million.
As of last year, the company employed more than 700 people at its headquarters on Six Forks Road in Raleigh’s North Hills neighborhood.
Advance Auto relocated from Roanoke, Virginia, to Raleigh in 2018 after securing $12 million in economic incentives from state and local governments. The maker of aftermarket auto parts agreed to create 435 new jobs at its new corporate home, but in June 2022, Advance Auto requested the state terminate its 2018 Community Economic Development Agreement, citing “changes in corporate work arrangements” stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, Advance Auto reported lower profit margins compared to the same period last year. On the year, its share price is down more than 60%, and in August, the company lost its place on the S&P 500 list. Greater product costs, wage inflation and heightened supply chain expenses have suppressed growth for the year, O’Kelly said.
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