Colony buys Monro's Kramer facilities, sells retail

May 10, 2012

In a move to focus on its commercial and wholesale business, Colony Tire Inc., Edenton, N.C., is buying the commercial facilities that Monro Muffler Brake Inc. acquired from Kramer Tire Co. in March, 2012.

In return, Monro Muffler Brake is buying 18 Colony Tire retail stores in North Carolina and Virginia.

“Monro sold us the truck tire centers in Norfolk and Hampton, Va., and the retread plant in Norfolk,” said Scott Creighton, president of Colony Tire.

“As part of that deal we sold them 18 retail stores and we held on to one retail-only store. We have 25 other combo commercial/retail stores and three wholesale distribution centers.”

The single retail store Colony is keeping is located in Edenton, where the company’s headquarters are located.

“The acquisition of 18 Colony Tire retail stores increases our presence in North Carolina to 29 locations from our current 11 locations in the state, and will allow us to provide complete auto service and a broader selection of tires to more customers in these markets,” said John Van Heel, president of Monro Muffler Brake.

Van Heel said the acquired Colony stores had sales of $25 million in 2011. Monro will continue to operate all 29 combined locations in North Carolina and will add more locations in the future.

“We will convert the acquired Colony locations and five of our existing North Carolina locations, now operating as Monro Muffler Brake & Service, to our Mr. Tire brand,” he explained. 

“We sold the retail because that’s Monro’s forte and our strength is in commercial and wholesale and that’s what we’re going to grow from here forward,” said Creighton.

Creighton said Colony had considered the move since Monro first announced acquiring Kramer on March 13.

“Monro has wanted to buy our retail business for many, many years but we’ve just had no interest. In an effort for us to buy their commercial, we decided it was the right time to sell our retail.”

The Kramer facilities will be renamed by Colony Tire. The retread plant will be closed and its production will be shifted to Colony’s Michelin Retread Technology plant in Edenton, N.C. The Kramer/Monro employees in the two commercial centers and retread plant have been offered jobs with Colony Tire.

“We are offering positions to all Colony employees in these 18 retail stores, so the same great store teams will continue to provide complete auto service and tires to their customers,” said Van Heel. “Additionally, we will broaden the selection of tire brands these locations carry and provide more parts inventory so we are even more convenient for customers.”

Colony Tire Corp. is number 46 on the MTD 2012 Top 100 Retreaders in the U.S., and is number 29 on the 2011 The MTD 100 Top Independent Tire Dealer Chains in the U.S.

Creighton’s father Charlie, Colony Tire’s CEO, is Modern Tire Dealer’s 2007 Tire Dealer of the Year.