The world of retreading looks a lot like the rest of the U.S. tire industry. Customer demand is strong, but the supply side of the equation has been problematic. One issue is tread rubber. As one retreader puts it, his business is focusing “on maintaining customers, while our rubber supplier hurts us with terrible fill rates.”
Developer of the AcuTread retreading process and former owner of Sumerel Tire Service Inc. Bob Majewski recently retired after a 50-year career in the retreading business.
For many retreaders, 2020 wasn’t a year to invest in major expansion. As Michael Berra Jr., president of Community Tire Co. in St. Louis, Mo., put it, “2020 was a survival year.”
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.
It’s difficult to find a topic most people agree on, but among retreaders, concern over low-cost Chinese tires is one of them. “We are constantly looking for ways to cut cost out of the retread process so that we can be competitive,” says Chris Chase, president of Donald B. Rice Tire Co. Inc., which goes to market as Rice Retreading Inc.
.jpg?height=250&t=1650889965&width=300 "Bob Majewski March 31st. Celebration pic 2 (1).jpg")
