Retailer Pep Boys has stopped selling auto parts and related items at its Richmond-area stores to concentrate on service repairs and tire sales.
The chain closed the retail part at four of its five area stores but still operates the service centers, often attached to the back or the side of its buildings. The fifth location, on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County, has always been a service-only center.
The retail portion of the four stores closed earlier this month, employees at those stores said. Signs on two area stores also indicate the retail stores have closed.
Company spokeswoman Arianna Sherlock confirmed the retail stores are closed and are focusing on providing automotive service, including both maintenance and repair for individual customers and the area’s fast-growing fleet business.
While these locations “will no longer sell retail parts and accessories as a Pep Boys, it will convert to another retailer, bringing a new level of convenience to our customers,” Sherlock said.
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She didn’t say which retailer would be taking over the space at the local stores.
In March, the company announced it had signed a deal with Advance Auto Parts for that chain to lease the retail space of 109 Pep Boys locations in California. Sherlock said Advance Auto Parts also leases former Pep Boys retail space in other locations across the country.
Pep Boys said in a release in late June that it planned to remodel nearly a third of its existing locations in the second half of this year as part of an alternative use strategy that includes leasing open sales floor space that formerly housed parts and accessories to other retailers.
The Pep Boys was founded 100 years ago and now operates nearly 1,000 stores across the country. The Philadelphia-based chain used to be called The Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack.
But the company has been transitioning to a new format that focuses on the repair part of its business, she said.
In Virginia, Pep Boys has 17 locations, according to the company’s website. But the website indicates only five of those stores sell auto parts.
Pep Boys is owned by Florida-based Icahn Enterprises, which is controlled by billionaire investor Carl Icahn. His company bought the chain in 2016.
J.Crew outlet store to open in Willow Lawn
A J.Crew Factory store is opening in the Willow Lawn shopping center in mid-August.
The outlet store will be taking 5,023 square feet of space in between the Old Navy store and the recently opened IHOP restaurant.
This will be the first Factory store in the Richmond region for J.Crew, which already has a full-fledged retail store at the Short Pump Town Center.
The chain’s Factory stores, typically located in outlet malls, offer a dedicated line of value-driven men’s and women’s apparel merchandise that the company designs and develops.
There are five Factory stores in Virginia, including at Williamsburg Premium Outlets and Potomac Mills, according to the company’s website. J.Crew also operates five other full-line retail stores in Virginia.
The fashion brand, which has struggled in recent years, filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2020 but reorganized its operations and emerged from federal bankruptcy court’s oversight last September. J.Crew was the first major retailer last year to file for bankruptcy after the coronavirus pandemic forced most stores across the U.S. to close their doors.