Auto parts store being built on Veterans Parkway in north Columbus

Shade tree mechanics and those simply needing to pick up an air filter or wiper blades for their vehicles are getting a new auto parts location in Columbus.

Memphis, Tenn.-based AutoZone is adding a sixth store in Columbus at 7817 Veterans Parkway to go along with two outlets in Phenix City. That’s at the northwest corner of Veterans Parkway and Old Moon Road, and across the road from O’Reilly Auto Parts.

A city building permit dated March 30 shows CBI Building Contractors putting up the 6,446-square-foot auto parts store for AutoZone Development LLC, with the cost of construction at $600,810. The project site is on a vacant piece of land that has never had anything major built on it.

When completed, this will be the eighth AutoZone in the local market, the others on Flat Rock Road, Buena Vista Road, Victory Drive, Hamilton Road and 32nd Street in Columbus, and on 14th Street and U.S. Highway 80 in Phenix City. The company operates nearly 5,350 stores in the U.S., the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with 526 more outside the U.S., all but 35 of those locations in Mexico.

Locally, Roanoke, Va.-based Advance Auto Parts is the leader in store count, with eight locations in Columbus and two in Phenix City. Springfield, Mo.-based O’Reilly Auto Parts has five stores in Columbus and two in Phenix City.

AutoZone, on its website, says the chain requires that stores be built in “high-impact locations with excellent visibility and access from adjacent streets.” The Georgia Department of Transportation shows the area of Veterans Parkway near the future AutoZone — and just south of a current major road-widening project — has a traffic count of 18,900 vehicle trips per day.

This story was originally published April 4, 2017 at 8:40 AM with the headline "Auto parts store being built on Veterans Parkway in north Columbus."