We have a few stores with decent prices and stock of stuff that stay somewhat busy. The best here is Carquest that is still stocked old school with long walls of hoses and belts etc.. and they are also really nice at letting you look for yourself for whatever you think would work for whatever oddball combination you want it for. A lot of these stores its the local garages and commercial users that keeps them going. The good stores are usually busy, the others not so much.

New Oreillys in my town. 2 actually. Hardly any cars in the parking lot. (Just like Mattress Firm) The AZs in my town are almost always BUSY. Brake parts radiators CV shafts etc. I often like shopping at Oreillys and Auto Value. Never busy I can get in and out. Rock Auto if I dont need the parts immediately and local stores if I do. Check them all out online for price and stock before I start the car.

I really rarely use local parts suppliers. Most of the time they don't stock anything. That and the clueless dolts that they have working behind the counter, it makes it difficult to even attempt to buy from them. I try to plan all of my projects ahead of time and order online (RockAuto, Amazon, etc). I have had much better luck with online parts than local.

My hometown has one parts store, CarQuest. Next town over has two each of Advanced,Napa, and Autozone and one O'Reilly's. None ever seem busy. My CarQuest is second generation owner. I've told him long ago I'd rather pay him more por parts because they are always right, and if there ever is a problem he takes care of me. Then Advanced took over CarQuest. He can still order me anything I need, but Advanced makes him tack on an extra handling fee. It's cheaper to go on Advanced's website and there is always a 20-25% off code, and it's easy to get free shipping. I asked him if Advanced knows what they are doing to the brick and mortar stores like his, and he said they know,,,they just don't care. Then there is Rock Auto. Cheap prices but watch the shipping. I looked up brake shoes for my D100, $25 for the shoes plu $9 ship...then I added valve cover gaskets, $6 for FelPro, but the gaskets added $18 shipping.

Nothing close to me, 40 miles, I still avoid like the virus. Either a young kid whos clueless or a Senior who thinks they hold the store together....

I do there lifetime exchange parts only because I keep things till dead and its smart money.

Ive been able to avoid the
"No clue kid" by looking up the part beforehand on my phone. Then I show them EXACTLY what their store shows- part number, manufacturer stock etc. The stores are ok when its brake parts, shocks and ball joints. But when you need a bearing or seal- something deep inside an assembly they can be out of their element.

The Pep boys in my town are closing down the only two locations. They are closing the retail parts but keeping the service centers open. I have often wondered how in the heck they stay open anyways, there is one 1/2 mile from my house but it is always my last resort because its expensive and hard to deal with. Even at the %40 off they are doing things aren't that good of a deal unless its a big ticket item. They still had a large selection

There is some good mom and pop stores outside of the metro here but they are often to far away for me to justify going.

I try and buy auto parts from Summit Racing when i go online. They don't scam you on shipping like Rock Auto and the prices are very good. Some Moog front end pieces for my Jeep were %30 less than Orielly and had free shipping and handling because it was over $100.

I'm the idiot that signed up on-line to order parts and get discounts etc. I'm the idiot that got looked at like an idiot when I went into the store to pick up my order the following day (not in stock/shiop to store) and gave them the paperwork with code supplied for the discount that was offered. They told me that they don't give the discounts when parts are ordered online and I'd have to ask NAPA for a rebate. The offer was clear, 30% discount when ordered online and paid for at store. The part guy and owner were looking at me with vacant faces as I left without close to $500 in brake parts sitting on their counter. Brakes got done the following weekend when my parts were delivered in an amazon box (at a better price) two days later.
I live in a rural area, try to shop locally first and am pushed to other areas or on-line by inavailibity of local stores to provide quality products at a fair price. Typically name brands (parts, clothing, footwear, electronics) are rarely in stock , need to be ordered and when rarely on hand charged full-tilt.

One like that just closed here, it looked fairly recent too and anytime I was in there I was the only guy there but I guess their real business is supplying parts to local shops, not walk ins.

Considering I had to hook up my alternator and test it myself because the woman at O-Reillys (who had been there 4 years) couldn't figure it out, I don't have much use for them anymore. I occasionally buy a metric large socket or oddball tool I don't have but that's about it.

RockAuto shipping.....

Last year I ordered about $2500 of parts that was still cheaper with shipping added on. They had parts in 4 different warehouses so you get charged a different shipping from each. But 3 of the boxes came from the same city in LA CA, just a different address half a block from each other. The 4th box was shipped from their Auburn WA warehouse JUST 6 miles from my house.
The box from Auburn went FedEx to Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, LA, Seattle, Tacoma and 8 days later to my house. SIX MILES.

Mancini is just as bad with their shipping ripoff. They sent me 4 parts in 3 boxes. All 4 parts were about 25 pounds combined. All 3 boxes were stuffed with air pillows. The 4 parts would have fit in 1 of the boxes. But they charge shipping AFTER you order, they just add it to your credit card after you get the first invoice. Ended up being $32 just for shipping. I will never order from them again.

I learned my lesson with Mancini long ago when they kept pimping the "Moparts discount" yet never gave one...

I experienced Mancini's shipping charge once. enough for me.Summit gives free ship, but they tack on a "handling fee"

I've only got two locally; BC's own "Lordco" and a small NAPA.

Both places have experienced, knowledgeable counter-staff. I can't fault either place. They do have some less experienced staff there, but most days you can avoid them.
The problem I have is that their pricing schemes are getting ridiculous. They aren't making any steps to try to combat online places like RockAuto.

Several examples:

1974 AMC Hornet front brake drum: Lordco: $300, NAPA: unavailable, RockAuto: $92 + $18 shipping.

Remanufactured engine for a 2004 Hyundai Tiburon: Lordco: (sourced from ATK) $7200, NAPA: unavailable as they only dealt with Jasper engines, Direct from ATK with shipping: $3600.

I understand capitalism. I understand stores need to make profit. But when your profit margins are 200%, 300%.... you're almost FORCING folks to seek out alternative methods. I had a hard time when I worked at Kal-Tire 10 years ago. During training, their videos explained a MINIMUM 450% markup. They actually made us sign non-disclosure forms. It made it very difficult for me, to tell friends and people that I've known all my life (small town, remember?) that winter tires for their 1987 Ford pickup was going to be $2,200.

Just recently, I'm doing a Holley rebuild for a friend. The Kit at Lordco was $55. Online, they start at about $35 plus shipping. In this case, I bought from Lordco as they had it on the shelf. It saved me time for sure, and didn't cost a whole lot more versus buying online! Makes sense.

My brother runs a KOI store in northern KY. and they STAY busy , both counter and outside wholesale sales

45+ years at this crap. Dealerships, independents, buying parts commercially, selling performance/race stuff, a few months managing one of the national chain stores, even a few months in a dealership parts dept. It's not 1978 anymore and it all sucks.

One little Carquest left close by. They mostly went away when Advance bought them. I liked Carquest and used them 100% for years. Now we have NAPAs, but they are being bought up and a few larger operations run all of them in the whole area. I still prefer NAPA parts now, but it's hard to avoid Chinese crap. A few Federated, One of the Carquests became an Auto Plus. And an independent I know of with multiple locations who do OK. And a bunch of AZ and Advance. All within an hour.

AZ and Advance I try to avoid. Overpriced, help is paid poorly, and I make sure I have part numbers and they have it if I go.

5 auto parts stores, 4 of which are on the same street. The 5th is just 1/2 block from that street. All within 3 minutes of each other. 2 chain stores, 3 mom and pop stores.

Anyone know why ADV and AZ seem to want to be as close to each other as possible?

Never seen them next door to each other... but a couple hundred yards yes

......
Never seen them next door to each other... but a couple hundred yards yes......


Carlisle Pa. AutoZone 725 N. Hanover St. Advance 707 N.Hanover St. The 2 stores are separated by their parking lots

I too learned a lesson about Mancini and their shipping charges. Used to order a lot of stuff from them, now I just use their website to look up part numbers occasionally.

In my town there is NAPA, Oreilly, Advance, and Auto zone...all in a row on the same side of the street and all in about a 1/4 mile stretch.
A lil further down the street is one "mom and pop" store, Larry's Auto. They "went out of business" a few years back, then reopened w/ just the machine shop in operation and a handful of parts.