‘Uber with guns’: Rideshare service with armed drivers launching in Dallas
A new rideshare service featuring armed drivers is launching and Dallas and two other Texas cities.
BlackWolf, a small ridesharing startup that gained fame through TikTok, is recruiting drivers in Dallas, Houston and Austin and hopes to launch by the end of this year or early 2025, founder and owner Kerry KingBrown said.
To begin, the company looks to hire 35 to 50 drivers in each city. Drivers must have spotless background checks and at least four years experience in the military, law enforcement or other security positions.
BlackWolf, which launched in Atlanta in 2023, has gained a large following on social media, with more than 1 million followers on TikTok and Instagram. KingBrown said rising crime in some large cities helped fuel demand. Some media outlets have likened the company to “Uber with guns.”
According to a report in Forbes, companies like BlackWolf are filling a void as the U.S. refuses to address gun violence. One company built a giant collapsible safe-room that is being marketed to schools, and another has developed bulletproof backpacks and school desks.
“Various businesses with their own solutions have emerged to fill the void,” Forbes wrote last year
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage slips to 6.78%
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. edged lower this week, ending a six-week climb.
The rate slipped to 6.78% from 6.79% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. That’s still down from a year ago, when the rate averaged 7.4%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also eased this week. The average rate slipped to 5.99% from 6% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.76%, Freddie Mac said.
Advance Auto Parts is closing hundreds of stores
NEW YORK — Advance Auto Parts is closing more than 500 stores and shedding another 200 independent locations as part of its efforts to revive its struggling business.
North Carolina-based Advance Auto said Thursday that it would be reducing its U.S. footprint as part of a “strategic plan to improve business performance.” The company said it is shuttering a total of 523 of its Advance corporate stores, as well as four distribution centers, and exiting 204 independent locations by the middle of next year.
Specific locations and the number of employees expected to be impacted was not immediately disclosed. A spokesperson for Advance Auto declined to comment further.
AAsAdvance Auto still outlined some wider turnaround efforts in Thursday’s announcement. Despite these sizeable closures, the company noted goals like an “acceleration in pace of new store openings” and adopting a standardized operating model. And it pointed to supply-chain consolidation plans, noting that it expected to incur costs related to converting certain stores and distribution centers into “market hubs.”
Advance Auto on Thursday posted a loss of $6 million in its third quarter on revenue of $2.15 billion. The company also lowered its full-year revenue outlook for the second consecutive quarter.
The seller of car batteries, motor oil and more has seen some waning sales since the start of the year, and is making efforts to boost its balance sheet. Earlier this month, the company closed a $1.5 billion sale of Worldpac, its automotive parts wholesale distribution business, to investment firm Carlyle.
Advance Auto primarily operates in the U.S., but also has some corporate stores and independent locations in Canada, Mexico and various Caribbean islands. As of Oct. 5, Advance Auto operated more than 4,780 stores and served 1,125 independently owned, Carquest-branded locations.
Shares of the company closed up less than 1% Thursday, but the stock is down 33% year to date.
