They’ve done it again. For the second year in a row, TBC Corp., based in Juno Beach, Fla., tops the Modern Tire Dealer 100 list in first place, followed by Discount Tire Co. Inc. at number two.
Last year, both TBC and Discount Tire broke the record for an independent tire dealership by both reaching the 800-store mark. TBC’s 837 outlets placed it well ahead of Discount Tire’s 800 stores.
TBC is keeping up the momentum in 2012.
This year, TBC has broken the record again – and passed the 900-store mark. Following the March acquisition of Midas Inc., TBC now has a total of 924 outlets in the U.S.
While Discount Tire grew by 34 outlets, the chain remains at number two on the MTD 100 with 834 locations.
Holding the number three spot is Les Schwab Tire Centers, at 434 stores. That’s a four-store increase over 2011’s list, where the company also was in third place.
Also coming in at fourth again this year is Monro Muffler Brake Inc. Following the March purchase of Vespia Tire Centers Inc., a 24-store chain based in South River, N.J. Monro now has a total of 306 Mr. Tire, Tread Quarters and Autotire outlets.
While these big players have managed to stay at the top of the MTD 100, there has been plenty of action with other independent tire dealers. We asked, “What have you done lately at your business and what have you got planned?”
• Belle Tire Distributors (number 9 with 84 stores): “We just celebrated our 90th anniversary by having a huge sale — $90 off any four tires.”
• Black’s Tire & Auto Service (32nd place with 33 locations): “We opened two new commercial/retail combo centers in Monroe and Raleigh, N.C.”
• Certified Tire and Service Centers Inc. (tied with Dunn Tire LLC for number 37 at 31 stores): “We are expanding our store base from 27 locations to 31, and are actively looking for additional locations.”
• Royal Tire Inc. (tied at number 49 with four others at 23 stores): “We’ve added both retail and commercial locations through acquisition and plan to do more of both in the coming year.”
• Flynn’s Tire & Auto Service (number 54 at 22 stores – tied with two other companies): “We opened a new retail store in Boardman, Ohio. We also opened a wheel reconditioning plant in our Dover, Ohio, commercial location. We have updated our retail point-of-sale system; and we will be moving two of our wholesale locations into larger buildings.”
• Warren Tire Service Center Inc. (tied for 67th place with 16 outlets): “Since last year we rented a small warehouse to give us additional inventory. We mostly added commercial, farm and OTR tires.”
• Delta World Tire Co. (tied for 69th place at 15 stores with four others): “We continue to improve our service offering, update our equipment, capture email addresses at point-of-sale, and provide a price-match policy to give consumers confidence shopping in our locations.”
• Stratham Tire Inc. (tied at number 74 with eight other dealers with 14 stores): “Expansion.”
• Associated Tire Stores (tied for number 88 with 10 other dealers at 12 stores): “We revamped our social media and revamped our website — we are one of the only independents where you can actually pay for tires or service online with your appointment.”
• Bore/MPC LLC dba Big O Tires, Missouri (tied in 88th place at 12 stores with 10 others): “We streamlined our product offering; trained, trained, trained; and advertised, advertised, advertised.” ■
To see the 2012 MTD 100, click here.
