What tire industry stories resonated the most MTD’s website visitors this year? Here’s the list of the most widely read www.moderntiredealer.com stories of 2023.
1. Mavis Has Ramped Up Its Acquisitions. This article examined the long string of acquisitions made by Millwood, N.Y.-based Mavis Tire Express Services Corp. over the last eight years, following the late-May announcement that Mavis would acquire 565 NTB Tire and Service Centers and Tire Kingdom Service Centers locations from TBC Corp. (The deal was finalized on June 1.) Some of Mavis’ largest acquisitions have included Bridgewater, N.J.-based Somerset Tire Service Inc., a 95-store chain that it purchased in August 2015; nearly 70 retail stores that had been owned by Kaufmann Tire Inc., in a deal that went through in 2018; Tuffy Tire & Auto Centers, a 165-store chain with locations, which was acquired in 2021; the retail and wholesale business of Moosic, Pa.-based Jack Williams Tire Co., which Mavis picked up during the first half of 2021; and Orlando, Fla.-based Action Gator Tire Stores’ retail locations, which Mavis bought in early-2022. (Click here to read more.)
2. TBC Sells Retail Stores to Mavis. TBC Corp. exited the company-owned retail tire business at mid-year via its sell-off of 392 NTB Tire and Service Centers and 203 Tire Kingdom Service Centers located throughout Florida, Texas and other states to Mavis Tire Express Services Corp. The transaction gave Mavis more than 2,000 locations. At the time, TBC Corp. President and CEO Sam Kato said that “divesting our company-owned retail business allows us to focus (on) and strengthen our wholesale business (and) pursue growing our distribution and ‘supply chain as a service’ solutions, while bolstering our market-leading Midas and Big O Tires franchise businesses.” TBC and Mavis were not strangers to one another as Mavis had acquired 112 NTB locations from TBC in February 2020. (Click here to read more.)
3. Who Are the Biggest Commercial Tire Dealers? This story linked to MTD’s 2023 Top 25 Commercial Tire Dealer list, a comprehensive, in-depth look at the nation’s largest independent commercial tire dealerships, from number of locations and truck tire brands sold to number of retread plants and service trucks in operation. (Click here to read more.)
4. MTD 100 Provides Exclusive Look at Biggest Tire Dealerships. This story pointed MTD readers to the 2023 edition of the MTD 100, which ranks the largest tire dealerships in the U.S., according to their total number of outlets. The MTD 100 also drills down into additional details, like tire dealer ownership, number of distribution centers each dealership operates and the tire brands that each dealership sells. The next edition of the MTD 100 will be published in July 2024. (Click here to read more.)
5. Southern Tire Mart Acquires Friend Tire from Yokohama. In April, Columbia, Miss.-based Southern Tire Mart LLC, the largest independently owned commercial tire dealership in the U.S., announced it had acquired Friend Tire Co. from Yokohama Tire Corp. for an undisclosed sum. The transaction gave Southern Tire Mart nine additional distribution centers located in Albuquerque, N.M.; Memphis, Tenn.; Belton, Texas; Davenport, Fla.; Monett, Mo., where Friend Tire was founded in 1956; St. Charles, Mo.; Shreveport, La.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Salt Lake City, Utah. (Click here to read more.)
6. Is 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake the Ultimate in Winter Tire Certification? It has proven to be a successful retail tire sales tool, but is 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMS) certification the ultimate validation of winter tire performance? Can tire dealers expect to see winter tire performance classification that goes beyond 3PMS? Tire manufacturers and other suppliers weighed in on these questions, providing a comprehensive look at the topic in this March story. (Click here to read more.)
7. Discount Tire Has Bought Dunn Tire’s Retail Stores. On Sept. 30, Discount Tire closed on its acquisition of 25 Dunn Tire locations in New York and Pennsylvania. The transaction, which did not include Dunn Tire’s Exxpress Tire Delivery wholesale business, included stores that offer automotive service – a departure from the longtime tires-only strategy associated with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Discount Tire’s 1,150-plus retail locations. The deal expanded Discount Tire’s presence in Pennsylvania and marked its entrance into the New York market. Discount Tire said all acquired Dunn Tire locations would continue to operate under the Dunn Tire name. (Click here to read more.)
8. Southern Tire Mart Expands in California. This past summer, Southern Tire Mart expanded its footprint in California with the acquisition of Country Tire & Wheel and Tulare Firestone, plus a Bandag retread operation, Eco-T Tire & Retreading, that the two companies owned. Country Tire & Wheel had four locations, including two in Bakersfield, Calif., one in Fresno, Calif., and one in Taft, Calif. Tulare Firestone, which was based in Tulare, Calif., and operated under the name TF Tire & Service, had nine locations, including a wholesale operation. (Click here to read more.)
9. Goodyear Makes an Agreement with Elliott Investment. In May, via public letter, one of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s biggest investors, Elliott Investment Management LP, called for significant changes at the Akron, Ohio-based tiremaker to help it “realize its full potential.” Two months later, Goodyear announced that it had agreed to appoint three new, Elliott-approved members to its board and form a “strategic and operational review committee.” Last month, Goodyear unveiled its Goodyear Forward plan, which calls for $1 billion in cuts; the divestiture of the 125-year-old company’s OTR tire business unit, chemical division and Dunlop brand; and other measures. Goodyear also announced that its longtime Chairman, CEO and President Rich Kramer will retire in 2024. Kramer has held those positions since 2010. (Click here to read more.)
10. Best-One of Indy Employees Save a Co-worker's Life. Ending on a high note, the 10th most-widely read moderntiredealer.com story of the year chronicled how two employees at Best-One of Indy’s Riley, Ind., location saved the life of a co-worker. On March 7, Wayne Cooper, a retail technician at the store, began to feel unwell while working. He collapsed and stopped breathing. A fellow technician, Keegan Hite, rushed to Cooper's side and began administering CPR. After five minutes, another employee, Jason Clark, took over CPR and continued for another three minutes. They were able to revive Cooper, who had suffered a heart attack. He returned to work two months later. (Click here to read more.)
