Advance Auto Parts 2006 Annual Report Download - page 28

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2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
Beginning Stores 2,810 2,652 2,539 2,435 2,484
New Stores
(1)
190 169 125 125 110
(3)
Stores Closed (5) (11) (12) (21) (159)
(4)
Ending Stores 2,995 2,810
(2)
2,652 2,539 2,435
(1) Does not include stores that opened as relocations of previously existing stores within the same general market area
or substantial renovations of stores.
(2) Includes 2 and 7 stores not operating at December 30, 2006 and December 31, 2005, respectively, primarily due to
hurricane damage.
(3) Includes 57 stores acquired during the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2002 as a result of our Trak Auto Parts
acquisition.
(4) Includes 133 stores closed as a result of our integration of the Discount operations.
Store Systems
Our store based information systems, which are designed to improve the efficiency of our operations and
enhance customer service, are comprised of proprietary point-of-sale, or POS, electronic parts catalog, or EPC,
store-level inventory management and standard operating procedure, or SOP, systems. Additionally, we support our
store-level operations with a proprietary labor scheduling system known as management planning and training, or
MPT. These systems are tightly integrated and together provide real-time, comprehensive information to store and
merchandising personnel, resulting in improved customer service levels, team member productivity and in-stock
availability.
Point-of-Sale. Our POS system, or APAL, is in all of our stores operating under the “Advance Auto Parts”,
"Advance Discount Auto Parts” and “Western Auto” trade names. Information maintained by APAL is used to
formulate pricing, marketing and merchandising strategies and to replenish inventory accurately and rapidly. APAL
is designed to improve customer checkout time and decrease the time required to train newly hired team members.
In addition, APAL provides additional customer purchase history, which may be used for customer demographic
analysis.
Electronic Parts Catalog. Our enhanced EPC system, which is fully integrated with APAL, is a software system
that enables our store team members to identify millions of application uses for automotive parts and accessories.
The EPC system enables store team members to assist our customers in their parts selection and ordering based on
year, make, model and engine type of their vehicles. Our centrally based EPC data management system enables us to
reduce the time needed to exchange data with our vendors and ultimately catalog and deliver updated, accurate
product information. If a hard-to-find part or accessory is not available at one of our stores, the EPC system can
determine whether the part is carried and in-stock through our PDQ system. Available parts and accessories are
then ordered electronically from another store, LAW, PDQ or Master PDQ with immediate confirmation of price,
availability and estimated delivery time.
Our EPC system also contains enhanced search engines and user-friendly navigation tools that enhance our
team members’ ability to look up any needed parts as well as additional products the customer needs to complete
their automotive repair project. While we believe this generally leads to an increase in average sales per transaction,
we believe these components will enhance our customers’ shopping experience with us and help them accurately
complete the repair job the first time, saving them time and money. Additionally, information about a customer's
automobile can be entered into a permanent customer database that can be accessed immediately whenever the
customer visits or telephones one of our stores.
Store-Level Inventory Management System. Our store-level inventory management system provides real-time
inventory tracking at the store level. With the store-level system, store team members can check the quantity of on-
hand inventory for any SKU, adjust stock levels for select items for store specific events, automatically process
returns and defective merchandise, designate SKUs for cycle counts and track merchandise transfers. Our stores use
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