Brand breakdown among top commercial dealers

July 22, 2009

Eleven dealerships on the Modern Tire Dealer 100 have double-digit commercial-only outlets. The most popular tire brand they carry? Michelin.

Three of the 11 are headquartered in Pennsylvania, and only two are based west of the Mississippi River. They are (with the number of commercial-only stores in parentheses):

Snider Tire Inc., Greensboro, N.C. (39);

Pomp's Tire Service, Green Bay, Wis. (28);

Service Tire Truck Centers, Bethlehem, Pa. (24);

McCarthy Tire Service Inc., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (15);

Ziegler Tire & Oil Co., Massillon, Ohio (15);

Parkhouse Tire Inc., Bell Gardens, Calif. (14);

Sullivan Tire Co. Inc., Norwell, Mass. (14);

Cross-Midwest Tire, Kansas, City, Mo. (13);

Bob Sumerel Tire Co. Inc., Erlanger, Ky. (12);

Valley Tire Co. Inc., Charleroi, Pa. (12); and

S&S Firestone Inc., Lexington, Ky. (10).

The 11 dealerships account for 196 commercial-only outlets, or 72.6% of the total commercial-only outlets owned by the 103 dealers on the list (there is a six-way tie for 99th place).

The Michelin brand is offered at all 11 dealerships. The General and Yokohama brands are each offered at 10 out of 11 dealerships.

Nine dealerships, or 82%, offer both the Bridgestone and Firestone brands. The rest of the top brands, in order of popularity, are: Continental (eight), Goodyear (seven) and BFGoodrich (six). Five of the 11 say they offer private brands and/or low-cost Asian imports.

Thirty-six of the 103 dealers run at least one commercial-only outlet. Another 17 dealers run at least one combination commercial/retail shop, so slightly more than 50% of the MTD 100 dealers offer commercial tires.

The Modern Tire Dealer 100 is an annual listing of the largest independent retail and commercial tire dealers in the United States. It appears in the July issue of MTD.