Advance Auto Parts, the second-largest auto parts retailer in the United States, introduced an online store to its Web site Monday.

The Web expansion will open the Roanoke-based company to sales in areas without stores, spokeswoman Shelly Whitaker said. Advance currently sells in 39 states.

The Web site helps customers browse and purchase more than 100,000 parts and opt for delivery or in-store pickup. Orders of more than $75 qualify for free shipping, according to a company statement.

A 24-hour Customer Care Center also will support the online-retail leg. Advance has a separate call center dedicated to service for its stores.

"This new Web site gives Advance the ability to connect with more customers than ever," e-commerce general manager Scott Bauhofer said in the statement.

Whitaker declined to estimate the costs of or predict profits from the e-commerce expansion.

Bauhofer, who joined the company in March, has added more than 20 staff members to a new Campbell, Calif., office that's dedicated to e-commerce. Advance plans to double that staff "eventually" and launch another online retail site in early 2010 where commercial garages can buy parts, Whitaker said.

At a keynote speech in June, Advance CEO Darren Jackson said the company's Internet presence was "behind by a large gap."

Advance's Web site had been without online retail since the beginning of 2009. Before then, it had partnered with competitor CSK Auto Corp., now owned by Springfield, Mo.-based O'Reilly Automotive Inc., to sell parts at an online store at partsamerica.com.

Online: www.advanceautoparts.com