Advance Auto Parts has announced that Mike Broderick, executive vice president, merchandising and store operations support, is leaving Advance to pursue his longstanding 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 CEO 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 to 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.
Separately, Pep Boys also issued a statement on the agreement. Brian Kaner, CEO of Pep Boys and Icahn Automotive Service Division, commented, “The agreement announced today only reinforces Pep Boys Service position as a leading repair and maintenance provider for consumers and fast-growing fleets on the West Coast. The agreement this year will provide us with an opportunity to refresh our Service Center locations and reinvest in the market to meet emerging customer needs, particularly as demand for electric vehicle service grows in the region.
“In addition, there’s a significant convenience advantage to having Pep Boys Service Centers located in proximity to a leading parts provider such as Advance — just another way Pep Boys is continuing to deliver on our promise to our customers: We go further to help you go farther,” Kaner stated.
