Advance Auto parts is closing 700 stores nationwide.

I have to respectfully disagree. Hang with me for a minute here....

Back when I worked at NAPA (early 90's) we were considered to be "The" go-to for OEM equivalent parts. Heck, even the Big Three dealerships called us up for parts they didn't have in-stock.

But then in the 2,000's somewhere NAPA started picking-up second, "Value" lines, to compete with the likes of O'Reilly's, Car Quest (et al.) for their walk-in business.

That sucked, but it got even worse.

Eventually NAPA (at least locally) started offering a Price Match Guarantee, and what this meant (for us) was that we had to deal with every Tom, Dick, and Harry who thought their AutoZone **** was the same as our Premium stuff. Hard to make money when you have to edju-ma-cate every damn fool who walks through the door and thinks he can turn a wrench.

And you can't argue with the people, as that's a lose/lose proposition.

In my opinion, right now we seem to be in some sort of "death spiral" and/or "race to the bottom" when it comes to auto parts, as a lot of Good People only buy based on price.

And then they come on these forums and ***** about Chinesium parts. (Please note I'm talking about people in-general here, not about anyone specific.)

And I just shake my head at the irony of it all.

I've been meaning to say this somewhere on this site for some time now, and I guess this thread is as good as any: As auto parts consumers, we all got what we deserved, and what (we thought) we wanted.
Understand completely. I actually think we DO agree. What I'm hearing you say, basically, boils down to costs. Costs for the supplier, who has to pass that to the consumer to stay in business. Yes, we all want "cost effective" parts. But, as being in business, I want the best part. I'm not in business to constantly warranty cheap azz parts. No money in that.