RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP), a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider, today announced Mike Broderick, executive vice president, merchandising and store operations support, is leaving Advance to pursue his long-standing career goal of being a CEO. As a result, the company also announced expanded responsibilities for several executive leaders designed to streamline operations, deliver efficiencies and support its ongoing transformation.
"On behalf of the entire Advance team I want to thank Mike for his leadership over the past four years and helping to launch many of our strategic initiatives,” said Tom Greco, president and chief executive officer of Advance Auto Parts. “Mike has been integral in improving our merchandising and supplier relationships, which we believe will drive meaningful growth for many years to come. While we are disappointed to see Mike leave, we wish him nothing but the best as he begins this new chapter in his career.”
Deep Bench of Proven Leaders
Michael C. Creedon, Jr., Advance’s president, U.S. Stores, has been promoted to executive vice president, U.S. stores. In addition to his current responsibilities with field leadership of U.S. Stores, Creedon will assume new responsibilities for all store support functions and new store openings. This gives Creedon end to end ownership of the company’s store operations strategy and execution. Creedon joined Advance in December 2013 and has held various senior leadership roles across store operations and professional sales and has served in his current role since May 2020. Over that time, Creedon has built a track record of developing talent and raising the bar on execution which has led to improved store sales and profitability.
Executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Jason McDonell’s role has been expanded to executive vice president, merchandising, marketing and e-commerce. McDonell will assume responsibility for all merchandising and sourcing for Advance in addition to leading the enterprise marketing and e-commerce functions. This will enable McDonell to fully integrate the marketing, merchandising and omnichannel agendas across both professional and DIY channels. McDonell joined Advance in July 2019 as chief marketing officer and has built a strong marketing team. McDonell also launched Advance Same Day™ delivery and the DieHard® battery brand which has driven accelerated growth and share gains.
Ken Bush, senior vice president, assortment and market availability, has been promoted to senior vice president, merchandising, and will report to McDonell. Bush, who has more than 30 years of automotive aftermarket industry experience, will lead the company’s entire merchandising function, as well as serve as the primary contact with Advance’s highly valued suppliers. Bush has a deep background in merchandising, inventory management and product availability and led the roll out of Advance’s Dynamic Assortment machine learning platform which has improved both assortment and close rates.
“Over the past several years, we’ve developed a deep bench of strong leaders. Mike, Jason and Ken have played an important role in our transformation progress to date and I have every confidence that they will build on our current momentum and advance the company’s strategic objectives,” said Greco.
California Expansion
In addition to these executive leadership changes, Advance also announced that it plans to lease the retail space of 109 Pep Boys stores in California and convert them to Advance Auto Parts stores over the next 9-12 months. The leasing opportunity does not include Pep Boys Service Centers. The agreement with Pep Boys was signed earlier this month and will enable Advance to augment its omnichannel and national footprint in a key, strategic market.
About Advance Auto Parts
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. is a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider that serves both professional installer and do-it-yourself customers. As of January 2, 2021, Advance operated 4,806 stores and 170 Worldpac branches in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Company also serves 1,277 independently owned Carquest branded stores across these locations in addition to Mexico, Grand Cayman, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and British Virgin Islands. Additional information about Advance, including employment opportunities, customer services, and online shopping for parts, accessories and other offerings can be found at www.AdvanceAutoParts.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements herein are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are usually identifiable by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” "guidance," “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “position,” “possible,” “potential,” “probable,” “project,” “should,” “strategy,” “will,” or similar language. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about the Company's strategic initiatives, operational plans and objectives, store expansions and future business and financial performance, as well as statements regarding underlying assumptions related thereto. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's views based on historical results, current information and assumptions related to future developments. Except as may be required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied by the forward-looking statements. They include, among others, factors related to the timing and implementation of strategic initiatives, the highly competitive nature of the Company's industry, demand for the Company's products and services, complexities in its inventory and supply chain, challenges with transforming and growing its business and factors related to the current global pandemic. Please refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” of the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied by the forward-looking statements.
