Advance purchased CARQUEST for 2 Billion dollars and they might as well throwed the money in a fire pit. They continue to run off the commercial business with lack of service and pricing. We are the laughing stock of the aftermarket business. We must have assembled the biggest group of morons for management that exist. They haven't a clue to what they are doing and damn sure don't know nothing about the commercial end of the business. I guess there is a reason most all of the CARQUEST guys in upper management are now gone. Advance has absolutely disgraced the CARQUEST name and their employees.
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How CQ was run is irrelevant. There are opinions both good and bad. The facts show they were smart enough to convince a competitor to spend over 2 billion dollars and send thousands of CQ employees skipping happily down the trail towards a financially sound retirement.
Spot on. The CQ employees seem to forget they worked for a poorly run company for years because the bandages held them together long enough for a bigger group of idiots to come and buy it out.
And everyone complains about not knowing commerical, priced wrong, inventory issues etc. claiming that AAP Destroyed CQ. Its the old AAP leadership that made the grand decision to relocated all of parts buying (merchandising) inventory management, logistics, etc. the the CQ headquarters. Around 15% of the AAP team members moved from Roanoke to Raleigh. So yes AAP leadership are/were nitwits. Not learning that moving these departments failed the first time (Minneapolis) and thinking that disrupting and turning over nearly every employee in your most critical departments to the success of your field team. So now these departments are almost exclusively run by ex CQ leaders and looks whats happening...they turned AAP into CQ at the corporate level and now it performs like CQ prior to the acquisition (almost broke)
The Sloan’s kept the gold mine along with the employee shareholders. As a former stockholder, I’m glad the mental giants at AAP made the decision to buy. No one else could be so easily convinced to part with over 2 billion dollars. It is unfortunate that that they have systematically dismantled what was a great company.
If it was such a gold mine, why did no one else buy it first? CQ sold out because they knew no one else would be dumb enough to pay that kind of money for the company.
Yeah you're right. They had a gold mine but wouldn't listen to the CARQUEST employees who had done commercial business for years. They have managed to get rid of most CQ people in upper management. They haven't even got a plan what to do but keep cutting payroll. This is not the answer but potato chip yes men from DM'S up your day will come. Do you really think they are going to take care of you when it gets even tougher? They'll toss you to the dogs so fast you won't even know what hit you.The only thing that they are looking after is themselves.
Ultimately, the acquisition of GPI will be the reason given for the final demise of AAP.
Looks like the independent CQ group is next.
Makes sense, as you look back at all the companies Advance has purchased over the last 20 years it was simply them buying out the competition, Instead of making themselves a better company they figured, bigger is better, right ? Now we all see how that has worked out.
Yep, what a waste of resources to buy CQ. This is why the former CEO was terminated. It was the worst financial decision because CQ was not a profitable company and the fact that they had been shopping for a buyer for YEARS should have been the overwhelming sign that an acquisition was the wrong decision and buying market share through purchasing is just a horrible direction. Oh well, once two great companies, destroyed by trying to become too big.
It's amazing that you can have that many morons in one company. And our DM is a complete idiot who has no idea what he's doing. He is nothing but a yes man. Due to his genius management all his stores are in the RED. If I was you I'd be worried about losing your job with all your stores down.
I would like to thank them dumb--ses too for securing my future by having to buy all my stock. I couldn't care less whether they succeed or not. But we all know they are losing the CARQUEST personnel and customers quicker the they can cut hours in the store. To the CEO and his cronies you had a gold mine and you blew it!
But as a former GPI stockholder, I would like to thank AAP for solidly financing my future! All the best to the lackeys running AAP.
I agree, this post hits it right on the head.