Comparing this year’s edition of the MTD 100 to last year’s MTD 100, one trend quickly emerges: the big continue to get bigger.
The most dramatic — and recent — example of this trend is Mavis Tire Express Services Corp.’s acquisition of 595 NTB Tire and Service Centers and Tire Kingdom Service Centers from TBC Corp., which was finalized weeks before this issue of MTD went to press.
The deal gives Mavis more than 2,000 retail stores, including 392 NTB stores and 203 Tire Kingdom locations throughout Florida, Texas “and other states” across the Midwest, South and Mid-Atlantic regions, according to a statement from TBC.
The transaction also marked TBC’s exit from company-owned retail. (TBC was ranked No. 4 on the 2022 edition of the MTD 100.) The company, however, continues to offer Big O Tires and Midas franchises.
TBC had owned Tire Kingdom since 2000 and NTB since 2003.
“Mavis’ acquisition of both chains represents a significant milestone in the continued acceleration of Mavis’s growth strategy, enabling us to deepen our presence in existing markets and expand our Mavis brand into new markets throughout the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and in Texas,” Stephen Sorbaro, co-CEO of Mavis, said when the deal was announced in late-May.
“We have a strong working relationship with TBC and a history of successfully integrating NTB locations into our platform, and we look forward to partnering with them again to welcome the talented NTB and Tire Kingdom teams to the Mavis family.”
“As we execute our growth plans and strategies, we continuously analyze the assets in our portfolio and periodically fine tune them to drive superior performance in our core focus areas,” said Sam Kato, president and CEO of TBC Corp.
“Divesting our company-owned retail business allows us to focus and strengthen our wholesale business, pursue growing our distribution and ‘supply chain as a service’ solutions, while bolstering our market-leading Midas and Big O Tires franchise businesses. We have never been in a stronger position to offer best-in-class solutions that address a full range of customer priorities while driving innovation and long-term sustainable growth.”
“It was important to us to identify a buyer with an exceptional people-centric culture that aligns with our company values,” Kato continued. “From our long-term partnership with Mavis, we are confident they are well-positioned to accelerate growth in the NTB and Tire Kingdom businesses as they continue to invest in expanding Mavis’s national footprint."
Commercial expansion
Green Bay, Wis.-based Pomp’s Tire Service expanded its footprint considerably. During the third quarter of 2022, the dealership acquired Tredroc Tire Services Inc., which was based in Elk Grove Village, Ill. The deal, which closed on Sept. 2, included 17 locations, four retread plants and two distribution centers and boosted Pomp’s Tire Service’s footprint to nearly 160 locations.
Tredroc has been owned by Don Barnes Jr. and Bob Barnes, who also own Allen Park, Mich.-based Belle Tire Distributors Ltd., another dealership that has expanded significantly since the 2022 edition of the MTD 100 was published.
“There had been conversations going back and forth between (Pomp’s Tire Service CEO) Jim Wochinske and Don Barnes off and on for a few years,” Paul Wochinske, Pomp's Tire Service's president, told MTD. “Then the end of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 is when it really started to pick up steam and we knew we could work out an agreement.”
Tredroc’s “go-to-market strategy is very similar to Pomp's. And with its number of locations in Michigan, it was very appealing to us.”
The acquisition also “further strengthens” Pomp’s Tire Service’s presence in the Chicago, Ill., market, he said. Tredroc had a retread plant in the Chicago area, as well as two plants in Michigan and another in the Cleveland, Ohio, market.
Also during the third quarter, Pomp’s Tire Service acquired 23 GCR Tires & Service locations, plus five GCR retread plants, from Bridgestone Americas Inc. as part of the manufacturer’s continued divestment of its GCR locations.
In April, Pomp’s Tire Service expanded its reach even further by acquiring St. Cloud, Minn.-based Royal Tire Inc., which extended its push into Minnesota and North Dakota. The deal gave Pomp’s Tire Service another 17 locations and three retread plants.
When the transaction was announced, Wochinske told MTD that Pomp’s Tire Service plans to keep all former Royal Tire locations. "The quality" of Royal Tire made it an attractive business to acquire. Royal Tire was a well-run organization with a great service culture.”
Commercial breaks
Bridgestone’s GCR sell-off has enabled other, commercially focused MTD 100 dealerships to grow.
Commercial Tire Inc., which is based in Meridian, Idaho, bought two of the final pieces of the GCR business — a commercial location and retread plant, both located in Spokane, Wash. — during the third quarter of 2022.
Prior to the acquisition, Commercial Tire had 15 commercial locations, 27 combined retail-commercial outlets and three retread plants. In early 2023, Commercial Tire also opened a greenfield outlet in Kuna, Idaho, as well as another location in West Jordan, Utah.
Last September, Columbia, Miss.-based Southern Tire Mart LLC, the largest commercial tire dealership in the U.S., announced it had acquired 26 GCR locations in Colorado and Utah — new states for the company — plus Nevada and California. (Southern Tire Mart moved into the southern California market in 2021 and already had a 10-plus-year presence in Nevada.)
“We definitely had customers who were talking to us in those areas,” Keven Haddox, who directs Southern Tire Mart’s business west of the Mississippi River, told MTD. “So this was in response to customers’ requests. It filled in some gaps for them. It helps to have the consistency of dealing with one vendor within their regions.”
Around the same time, Southern Tire Mart further strengthened its presence in the Southwest with the acquisition of longtime Phoenix, Ariz.-based OTR tire dealership Redburn Tire Co. The transaction gave Southern Tire Mart locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott Valley, Kingman and Yuma, Ariz.; Commerce City and Greeley, Colo.; Farmington and Albuquerque, N.M.; and a location in New Mexico near El Paso, Texas. (Redburn owners Don Leffler and J.D. Chastain have retired.)
Redburn Tire was “a good, complementary dealer” and “a very strong company,” said Haddox. “We respect them and what they will bring to us. We love adding the strengths of Redburn to the strengths of Southern Tire Mart.”
Southern Tire Mart continued to expand via acquisition in 2023. During the first quarter of the year, the company bought Heintschel Truck Tire Center of Texarkana, Texas. The single-location dealership, which had been owned by Garry Heintschel, started as a Southern Tire Mart outlet on Feb. 1. (Heintschel Truck Tire Center was founded in 1973 by Arlen Heintschel.)
On April 1, Yokohama Tire Corp. announced it had sold its Friend Tire Co. wholesale division to Southern Tire Mart in a deal that gave Southern Tire Mart nine additional distribution centers located in Albuquerque, N.M.; Memphis, Tenn.; Belton, Texas; Davenport, Fla.; Monett, Mo.; St. Charles, Mo.; Shreveport, La.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Salt Lake City, Utah. The locations began operating as Southern Tire Mart outlets on April 3.
Another commercial tire-oriented MTD 100 dealership that has grown is Massillon, Ohio-based Ziegler Tire & Supply, which opened a new location in Owensboro, Ky. The outlet was brought online “to complement our other locations in that market,” John Ziegler Jr., Ziegler Tire’s vice president, told MTD.
Norwell, Mass-based Sullivan Tire Co. Inc. grew its commercial capabilities by acquiring both the commercial and retail operations of Central Tire in Shawmut and Sanford, Maine, in 2023. The addition of the commercial locations in both Sanford and Shawmut brought Sullivan Tire’s commercial location total to 17 at the time. Sanford’s retail center increased the number of Sullivan Tire’s retail locations to a total of 78 throughout New England.
In an interview with MTD, Joe Zaccheo, Sullivan Tire’s president and CEO, said Central Tire “is a microcosm of Sullivan Tire. They have commercial, wholesale, retreading and a little bit of retail. The stores came with a very loyal customer base. They’re very sales-oriented and we also had supplied tires to them. We closed on (the Central Tire deal) in October and haven’t skipped a beat.”
At the start of 2023, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based McCarthy Tire Service Co. Inc. acquired Truck Fleet Repair, a single-location commercial tire dealership in Norfolk, Va., that had been in business since 1980.
“We’re excited about this acquisition because it’s a win-win for both of our customers,” said John McCarthy Jr., president of McCarthy Tire Service. “It enables us to extend comprehensive mechanical services to our current customers, while providing over 200 Truck Fleet Repair customers with comprehensive tire solutions, from full tire processing management to retreading.”
The Truck Fleet Repair purchase followed McCarthy Tire Services’ acquisition of LS Truck Tire Repair, a five-location commercial dealership with operations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and Barclay, Md.-based Classic Tire Service Inc., during the second quarter of 2022.
McCarthy Tire also opened a new commercial tire center in Morganville, N.J., this year.
In May, Bradenton, Fla.-based Callaghan Tire joined the Best-One Tire & Service network and was renamed Callaghan's Best-One. Founded in 1978 by Dan and Elizabeth Callaghan, Callaghan's Best-One has grown to encompass 10 commercial truck tire centers, two Bandag retread plants, a full-service retail tire and auto service location and the five-location Callaghan Industrial Tire division.
Teaming up with Best-One "will allow the Callaghan family to continue its growth, with more access to resources, product lines and manufacturing support,” according to Callaghan Tire officials.
Retailers on the move
Retailers on the MTD 100 also have experienced supercharged growth.
Sun Auto Tire & Service increased its store count by more than 60 locations versus last summer. The Tucson, Ariz.-based company now has more than 420 locations.
Sun Auto Tire added 29 locations in three states during the third quarter of 2022 via the acquisitions of TGK Automotive Specialists, a 24-store business primarily based in Minnesota, with one location in Arizona, and Toscalito Tire & Automotive, a five-store dealership in California. (The TGK deal marked Sun Auto Tire’s entrance into the Minnesota market.)
“We’re excited to be expanding the Sun Auto family of brands with our first locations in Minnesota, while continuing to grow our existing presence in Arizona and California,” said Sun Auto Tire Vice President of Development Chris Garman. “The TGK Automotive Specialists and Toscalito Tire & Automotive brands have been serving their communities and providing the highest quality of service for years, which we will maintain throughout this transition and onward.”
In January 2023, Sun Auto Tire acquired Jacksonville, Fla.-based Tire Outlet, an independent tire dealership with 14 outlets throughout northern Florida. Tire Outlet was the 77th largest independent tire dealership in the United States, according to the 2022 MTD 100.
Tire Discounters Inc.’s acquisition of Leete Tire and Auto, a four-store, Virginia-based chain, in December 2022 capped a big year of acquisitions for the rapidly expanding, Cincinnati, Ohio-based dealership, which now has nearly 200 retail locations.
The Leete Tire deal gave Tire Discounters 20 locations in the state of Virginia. It was the fourth tire dealership acquisition that Tire Discounters made during the final quarter of 2022 and the company’s 16th overall acquisition — excluding its purchase of a Cincinnati-based car wash chain — of 2022.
During the fourth quarter of 2022, Tire Discounters also acquired Dellinger’s Tire, a single-store dealership in Chesapeake, Va.; Fred’s Tire, a one-store dealership in Columbus, Ga.; and Arne’s Tire, which is based in Blairsville, Ga., and has one outlet.
Tire Discounters remained busy during the third quarter, acquiring Shadden Tire, a three-store dealership in Crossville, Tenn.; Dyke Tire Pros, a single-store dealership in Richmond, Va.; and Koehler Tire, a single-store dealership in Madison, Ind.
As 2023 started, Jamie Ward, president and CEO of Tire Discounters, said the company was “on track to replicate last year’s growth — or more — due to our deep pipeline. We are actively focusing on the Carolinas and Florida for more acquisitions and greenfield expansion.”
Tire Discounters’ most recent acquisition was its purchase of Gainesville, Ga.-based The Tire Barn, which had been owned by the Roper family since it opened in 1971. The purchase boosted Tire Discounters’ presence in Georgia to 22 locations. “The Atlanta metro area is important for us as we continue to grow our business,” noted Ward.
The company also strengthened its presence in the central Kentucky market with the purchase of Skip Cottrell’s Tire, a single-location dealership in West Somerset, Ky.
Allen Park, Mich.-based Belle Tire Distributors Ltd. continues its push into the greater Chicago market, which began in 2021. The dealership has added 16 new stores in the “Chicagoland” area since July 2022. They include a store in Bloomingdale, Ill., which opened its doors in January 2023; a location in Huntley, Ill., that has 10 service bays and spans 10,000 square feet; a store in Carpentersville, Ill., which opened in April 2023; and others.
Last fall, Barnes told MTD that Belle Tire will have 70 stores throughout the Chicago area by the year 2025. “We like high-barrier-of-entry markets. It’s going to keep a lot of different competitors out. When you have a high-barrier-of-entry market because of real estate, labor costs or advertising, we like that. Chicago is a huge market with a dense population and an incredible car count. We’re really enjoying this opportunity.
“All of our growth from 2000 has been organic,” said Barnes. “We want to control our own destiny.”
MFA Oil Co., which does business as Big O Tires in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, acquired 13 Big O Tires stores in the Kansas City market from TBC Corp. this past February. Eight of the stores are located in Missouri and five are located in Kansas. The deal gave MFA Oil its first presence in Kansas, with two stores in Olathe, Kan., and outlets in Shawnee, Overland Park and Kansas City.
“This is a major expansion for our company,” says Charlie Alexander, senior director of Big O Tires for MFA Petroleum. “It strengthens our current footprint and helps us build the Big O Tires brand throughout the Kansas City area. We are excited to serve the KC market.”
Big Brand Tire & Service Inc., which is owned by Percheron Capital, added more than 30 stores over the last 12 months, including 15 outlets via its fourth quarter 2022 acquisition of AAA Auto and Christensen Auto, both of which had locations in Nevada.
“The rest of the openings were a combination of Greenfield and Brownfield stores and acquisitions,” a Big Brand Tire & Service spokesperson told MTD. “The additional acquisitions were smaller in nature — one to four stores each — in southern and northern California; Phoenix, Ariz., and Denver, Colo.”
Big Brand Tire & Service has expanded rapidly in the southwestern U.S. In June 2022, Percheron Capital/Big Brand Tire acquired 11 locations in Tucson, Ariz., from MPG Tire and Auto Service. Three months earlier, the chain acquired three independent tire dealerships in Arizona — Community Tire Pros & Auto Repair, S&S Tire & Auto Service Center and C&R Tire. In November 2021, Big Brand bought American Tire Depot's 107 retail stores in southern California, plus nine Purcell Tire & Rubber Co. retail outlets in Arizona.
Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Leeds West Group (LWG) has grown its footprint to more than 120 stores. “We successfully acquired and opened five locations,” says a spokesperson for LWG.
In the May 2023 issue of MTD, LWG CEO Derek Wessels, said that the company, which historically has expanded through the acquisition of Big O Tires and Midas franchise locations, is “looking at every and any opportunity that we’re presented with. We have big plans for growth and expansion. Anything that fits our model, we’re going to pursue it.
“If I had to look five years down the road, having 250 to 300 stores would be great,” Wessels told MTD. “We also could be significantly larger. It all depends on the opportunities. We don’t have any capital restraints, so we’re able to do pretty much do any deal that we look at.”
Auburn, Maine-based VIP Tires & Service moved into a new location in Sanford, Maine, and opened a store in Seabrook, N.H., during the third quarter of 2022. The southern Maine market “is growing quickly,” Tim Winkeler, the dealership’s president, said at the time. “We need a lot more room to adequately service the customer base of this growing community.”
Just last month, VIP acquired Marshfield Tire & Auto Center, a single-store dealership in Marshfield, Mass. “Several of the Marshfield Tire & Auto Service Center staff are remaining with VIP, making for a seamless transition for customers," said VIP officials.
“Joe Bird and Carl Waterfield, owners of Marshfield Tire, have done a great job servicing the Marshfield community for over 23 years," noted John Quirk, VIP's executive chairman.
Steve Shannon Tire Co., which is based in Bloomsburg, Pa., also is in growth mode. Steve Shannon Tire stores opening since last summer include an outlet in Allentown, Pa., which opened in October 2022, and another store in the same city that hung up its shingle in April 2023. Also in April, the dealership added a store in State College, Pa., that had been a Sears Auto Center and in May 2023, opened a new location in Sunbury, Pa.
Shortly before press time, Jesse Shannon, one of Steve Shannon Tire’s owners, told MTD that the company plans to open a store in Auburn, N.Y., which had been a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. company-owned location. And the dealership has its sights on another location in New York that will be an acquisition.
West Middlesex, Pa.-based Flynn’s Tire & Auto Service has opened two locations since last year, including an acquisition in Delmont, Pa., and a new store in Montrose, Ohio, an Akron suburb — both of which came online this past May. The Montrose store is located in a high-traffic area at the intersection of two major thoroughfares.
In early-2022, Flynn Tire Group’s wholesale division, FTW, relocated its Greensburg, Pa. warehouse to New Stanton, Pa. which offers more than triple the square footage and tire storage capacity than the previous location. The new distribution center is a 150,000-square-foot facility and features 22 loading docks, as well as large training and conference rooms.
Chapel Hill Tire, which is based in Chapel Hill, N.C. has joined the MTD 100 for the first time. The dealership, which was founded in 1953, acquired its 11th store — a Durham Tire store in Durham, N.C. — this past May. The location, which covers 4,140 square feet and has six service bays, is Chapel Hill Tire’s second outlet in the Durham area.
Edenton, N.C.-based Colony Tire Corp. expanded its footprint by adding two locations — a new store in Charlotte, N.C., that opened in November 2022 and an outlet in Florence, S.C., that’s located in a building that had been owned by a collision repair company. (The latter location became a Colony Tire store in December 2022.)
Morgan City, La.-based Chabill’s Tire & Auto Service added a new store this past April. The outlet is based in LaPlace, La., a new market for Chabill’s Tire, and was acquired from Tire Town, says Beth Barron, the dealership’s CEO. “The store is about 8,000 square feet,” she told MTD. “It has nine bays.”
In January 2023, Webster Groves, Mo.-based Telle Tire & Auto Centers acquired Jerry's Tire Sales, a single-store tire dealership founded in 1962 in Edwardsville, Ill. Jerry’s Tire Sales had been owned and operated by Brian and Keith Lee.
Around the same time, Telle Tire acquired a former car dealership, with the goal of transforming the facility into its new headquarters. The structure features nine service bays. “Through all of our expansion over the years, we have continued to office out of the original location from the 1940s and we are literally busting at the seams,” says Aaron Telle, the dealership’s president and CEO.
Other tire dealerships also have added locations since the 2022 edition of the MTD 100 was published.
