Southern Tire Mart LLC has acquired the Pooler, Ga.-based Dorsey Tire Co., which went into effect on June 9.
Through the acquisition, Southern Tire Mart added Dorsey’s five locations, including its Bandag retread plant.
Keven Haddox, who manages Southern Tire Mart’s business west of the Mississippi River, says that the acquisition came from wanting to “fill in some areas we needed to complete.”
“Billy Dorsey, [owner] Bruce Chamblee [chief operating officer] and Patty Kelly [owner and chief financial officer] did a great job with the company,” says Haddox.
“They’re very service-oriented and retread-oriented, so they fit in very well with how we go to the market. And with the way they did business, and the positions of their locations just fit real nicely with us.”
Haddox says Chamblee will stay on the Southern Tire Mart team, along with all the employees at the acquired locations.
“We will continue operations — when we opened up Monday, [at the newly acquired locations] we continued operations as they were when they closed on Friday,” says Haddox.
However, Haddox says that Kelly and Dorsey will just stay through the acquisition process to help with the transition.
Haddox says the slower economy has impacted Southern Tire Mart and its customers, which affects Southern Tire Mart’s acquisition strategy.
“Our customers are really having tough times during this time, but whenever an opportunity presents itself, whether that’s a greenfield or an acquisition, we’re going to take a look at it and move forward,” says Haddox.
Haddox also mentions that there are “other things coming and there are opportunities for us to grow in different areas,” and he says Southern Tire Mart wants to take advantage of those.
“I want to thank Billy, Bruce and Patty for the good company and good business and we’ve known them for several years and are very happy that we’re able to make this happen and really appreciate them and are excited to work with them,” says Haddox.
Dorsey Tire came in at No. 45 on MTD’s 2025 Top Retreaders list, while Southern Tire Mart is the largest retreader, and the largest commercial tire dealer, in the country.
