Belle Tire Distributors is celebrating its 50th year as a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. customer. Representatives from Goodyear, including company Chairman and CEO Bob Keegan, recently visited the Allen Park, Mich.-based dealership to present it with anniversary awards.
Belle became a Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. dealer in 1958. The Kelly salesman who put the deal together, Don Barnes Sr., bought into Belle Tire as a partner in the 1960s. He purchased full control of the dealership in 1984.
The company, which is the 7th largest independent tire store chain in the United States with more than 70 locations, is now operated by CEO Bob Barnes and President Don Barnes Jr. It has locations in Michigan and Ohio.
