Pros
There seems to be pockets of talented people throughout the organization, but their ability to make substantial contributions is often limited by the "old guard" who continues to proclaim that they've "...been in this business for 30 years...".
Cons
Sadly, CARQUEST is living in the stone age. This once great company started by a passionate innovative entrepreneur has stagnated. Ironically, a lack of the same type of innovation that started this company is what has led to its current state. Complacency abounds as the company sits on the success of our founder, expecting it to carry us into the future. An almost exclusive focus on cost cutting has resulted in flat business growth the last 5+ years and an environment where the appropriate resources to simply maintain are lacking. Mired in mountains of spreadsheets and reports, serving the customer has taken a back seat. This approach has been demoralizing to the employees and the poor results attest to it. The company has been dying a slow death for awhile and the purchase by Advance just validates that. (If CARQUEST was truly successful, they would be acquiring Advance, not the other way around.)