Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 15, 1990 TAG: 9005150247
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The expanded 185,000-square-foot building will duplicate the company's structure in Roanoke's Centre for Industry and Technology.
Work is expected to start by June. The company will add about 70 employees, bringing the center's work force to 200, when the building is finished in January, said Nicholas Taubman, Advance chairman.
The 58-year-old Roanoke company is running about a year ahead of its projected growth.
Advance expects to end this year with 200 stores and expand to 250 by the end of 1991, according to its chairman.
Operating in Virginia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee, Advance plans to open stores in Winchester and Northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley area of West Virginia, possibly in Maryland and northern Georgia.
Taubman said the company is concentrating on filling in areas within its present territory, as well as adding stores in small towns.
The expansion should house auto parts for 300 to 400 stores, he said.
The company also owns land for a third-phase expansion of 72,000 square feet to store and distribute auto parts.
The distribution center has first priority, Taubman said. But it's difficult operating with headquarters in the Wasena section, advertising on Salem Avenue and training on Brandon Avenue.
Advance Auto also has the land to move its offices to the industrial park in Northeast Roanoke. "When we make up our minds to do it, it's there," Taubman said.
Several years ago, the company bought the Porterfield Distributing building next to its offices on 8th Street Southwest in the Wasena section. Advance has used 15,000 square feet for offices and it is preparing to use the other half, 14,000 square feet, he said.
The expansion will be to the north, near Blue Hills Golf Course.
The new building will require a separate sprinkler tank of 400,000 gallons, a bladder or fabric tank, surrounded by a berm. New employees will be hired by October. Taubman said the company will need truck drivers, warehousemen, order pickers and a variety of other workers.
by CNB