Wonderland Tire of Byron Center, Mich., has acquired Sumerel Tire Service Inc., of Newport, Ky. The deal gives Wonderland Tire three more retread plants — in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The first day of operations for the combined company was March 10, 2021.
Jon Langerak, CEO of Wonderland Tire, said, “Thirty-three years ago, we met Bob Majewski, then employed with Hercules-Cedco, when he sold us our first chamber. Our two companies have worked together for 24 years and have developed a close working partnership with similar goals, technologies, business processes and most importantly, producing top-quality remanufactured tires to reduce fleet owner’s costs and increase customer satisfaction.”
In 1994, Majewski became part owner of Sumerel Tire Service and the next year the trademark of the AcuTread retread process was finalized. In 1996, Majewski and Tom Sumerel approached Wonderland about implementing the AcuTread process at its retread shop in Michigan. After a year of testing, Wonderland implemented the AcuTread process and produced its first product on April 8, 1998.
In 2002, Majewski, Langerak and four others - Henry Kamps, Earl Kamps, Dave Langerak and Terry Westhafer - partnered to form the AcuTread Alliance Group. In 2014, the Kamps and Langeraks bought the AcuTread process and trademark from Majewski and Westhafer.
Majewski called the merger with Wonderland “more than just an ordinary business deal.
"This is a marriage of like-minded cultures and people who know each other and share in a common commitment to quality products, our customers and employees. We manufacture and sell identical re-manufactured AcuTread tires, as well as the same new tire brands, so this combination will provide increased scale and geographic reach in the competitive and continually evolving tire market. This consolidation was a natural step in our overall strategic plans for both companies.
"With this acquisition, it will allow our experienced management team to stay in place, so our customers will continue to receive the same great service they have come to love and expect. No one will be leaving the Sumerel Team as we join the Wonderland Tire family."
The acquisition does expand Wonderland's reach in the retreading market, giving the company two of the largest AcuTread plants, plus the move with manufacturing in additional states. Overall, this gives Wonderland 13 locations in six states, with the capacity to produce more than 137,000 retreaded tires a year in four plants.
