Who Owns CarParts.com?

The company was incorporated in California in 1995 as U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc., founded by Sol Khazani and Mehran Nia. It began as an aftermarket parts distributor and moved online early, launching its first retail website in 2000 after the flagship CarParts.com domain was established as an e-commerce site in 1999.

Through the 2000s the company expanded its web footprint, launching multiple niche sites and building marketplace sales on eBay and Amazon alongside its owned channels. It reincorporated in Delaware in 2006 and went public in 2007, listing on Nasdaq as PRTS. Along the way it picked up the JC Whitney catalog brand after that century-old parts retailer's collapse, adding a heritage private label that remains in the portfolio today. The business model stayed consistent: source aftermarket collision, engine, and performance parts, hold inventory in company distribution centers, and sell direct to DIY consumers and repair shops at prices below dealer parts counters.

The July 2020 rebranding consolidated dozens of legacy domains, including USAutoParts.net and JCWhitney.com, into the single CarParts.com destination, paired with a mobile app push and a wholesale channel for professional installers. The rebrand marked the company's attempt to become the recognizable consumer name in a category dominated offline by AutoZone, O'Reilly, and Advance Auto Parts.

The subsequent years proved harder. The pandemic-era surge in e-commerce faded, marketing costs rose, and the company posted consecutive annual net losses. Tariffs added a further squeeze, compressing gross margin on the imported parts that fill much of its catalog. In March 2025 the board launched a strategic review after receiving unsolicited interest from potential buyers. Rather than a sale, the review concluded in September 2025 with the $35.7 million strategic investment from A-Premium, ZongTeng Group, and CDH Investments, which also brought a commercial partnership adding roughly 150,000 A-Premium products to the catalog and logistics cooperation with ZongTeng.

Fiscal 2025, the 53 weeks ended January 3, 2026, closed with net sales of $547.5 million, down 7% year on year as the company cut marketing spend to protect profitability, and a net loss of $50.4 million that included an impairment charge. The mobile app reached 1.3 million cumulative downloads, and the company serves more than 2.5 million customers annually.