Who Owns Advance Auto Parts?

The banner traces to 1932, when Arthur Taubman bought three Baltimore auto parts stores and formed Advance Stores Company. The chain grew steadily through the mid-20th century as car ownership expanded and a do-it-yourself repair culture emerged along the East Coast.

The 1998 acquisition of Western Auto Supply roughly doubled the footprint overnight and made Advance a national player. It went public in 2001 and added Discount Auto Parts in 2002, then spent the next two decades building store count and an online presence, reaching a peak of more than 5,000 locations across its banners.

The brand's recent history is consolidation. Persistent margin underperformance versus AutoZone and O'Reilly produced investor pressure, a board settlement with activist Starboard Value, and eventually the 2023 arrival of CEO Shane O'Kelly. His 2024 restructuring closed more than 500 corporate stores, shuttered distribution centers, and refocused the remaining network on larger "market hub" stores carrying deeper inventory for professional deliveries.

FY2025, ended January 3, 2026, showed the smaller but healthier footprint delivering the first positive comparable-store sales year in three years at 0.8%. Through Q3 2026 the banner continued its stabilization, with the Pro channel growing low-single-digits even as DIY traffic remained soft under consumer budget pressure.