Advance Auto Parts to create 600 jobs in Raleigh

Advance Auto Parts will create 600 jobs in Raleigh by the end of 2017, officials said Wednesday.

Positions based in the company's Raleigh Support Center will include merchandising, marketing, supply chain and commercial sales. Some of the positions will be relocated from other areas of the U.S. Compensation for the new positions will vary greatly by job, but the average pay will be about $110,000 a year, plus benefits.

The project was made possible, in part, by an award to the company from the state Job Development Investment Grant program. Under the terms of the award, Advance Auto is eligible to receive more than $17.4 million total over the next 12 years if it proves it has created the jobs.

In January, Advance Auto completed its acquisition of General Parts International, which had its corporate headquarters in Raleigh. The acquisition created the largest automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America, with annual sales of more than $9.3 billion, according to the company.

Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto has more than 5,200 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Canada and employs about 74,000 people. In North Carolina, the company has more than 245 stores and employs more than 3,800 people.

"We are pleased to partner with North Carolina, and we are delighted that Raleigh, along with Roanoke, Va., will be part of our effort to organize our corporate operations around two Store Support Centers in the Southeastern United States," Advance Auto Chief Executive Darren Jackson said in a statement.