Pep Boys may sell Phila. headquarters

The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack, the Philadelphia-based national auto-parts and services company, said today that it had hired a real estate adviser to explore the sale of its corporate headquarters. But, it insisted, it is not leaving town.

"We love Philadelphia as a corporate headquarters," company spokeswoman Marie Gehret said.

Pep Boys, founded in 1921 in West Philadelphia, has used a 300,000-square-foot former warehouse at 311 W. Allegheny Ave. as its headquarters, which it prefers to call its "store support center," since 1947.

That building is only half-occupied, Gehret said.

The firm has hired Glenn Blumenfeld of Tactix Real Estate Advisors L.L.C., of Radnor, to explore its options for the building.

It could decide to remain in the building and sublease the vacant space to others, Gehret said.

Earlier this year, Pep Boys hired a new chief executive officer, Jeffrey C. Rachor, 45, a veteran automobile executive who has held position with General Motors Corp. and, most recently, was chief operating officer of Sonic Automotive Inc., a Charlotte, N.C., chain of 175 automobile dealerships.

With 593 stores and 20,000 employees in 36 states, Pep Boys is seeking to reassert its presence in the automobile-parts and service industry after losses in three of the last five years.

Pep Boys shares were down 44 cents at $21.01 today on the New York Stock Exchange.