Tire Group International LLC (TGI)’s Cosmo brand is moving into a new space: branded retail stores.
This past July, TGI – in partnership with Paul’s Tire Services of Hollywood, Fla. - opened its first Cosmo retail outlet.
The state-of-the-art, 8,000-square-foot location “marks a significant milestone for Cosmo Tires" according to TGI officials, and is the Cosmo brand’s first foray into tire retailing.
TGI, which was founded by Tony Gonzalez, its CEO, in 1992, is concentrating on growing its Cosmo brand, which encompasses a wide, ever-evolving range of passenger, light truck and medium truck tires.
“Cosmo is our focus and something we’re putting a lot of capital and effort into,” says Gonzalez.
“We see it as our future and a brand that is different than many other tier-three tires out there. And (the new store) is another example of that.”
Gonzalez says the owner of Paul’s Tire Services, a longtime TGI customer, mentioned that he was planning to open a new store.
“I said to him, ‘Why don’t we do something together there? We’ll give you the support you need and then you allow us to brand the store in return.’ That’s how the conversation started.
“We started coming up with design concepts,” including painting the store’s exterior in the Cosmo brand’s signature colors and adorning the location’s interior with other Cosmo brand elements. (“It’s all about representing where we come from,” says Gonzalez. “Miami has always had that wild, tropical side to it.”)
The store’s owner, whom Gonzalez has declined to name, “loved the fact he was going to be associated with an up-and-coming brand and a brand that has done a lot in our own backyard.”
Cosmo “is very visible” in the southern Florida area, notes Gonzalez.
Less than two months into its existence, “the store is doing great. It’s in a prime spot — a heavily traveled street — and has a great group of people working there.”
A second Cosmo store is in the works. The outlet will be located in the greater Miami area.
“And there will be a couple of international (Cosmo) stores within the next year or so,” says Gonzalez.
“With our distributors in different countries and (customers) in different parts of this country who have contacted us, we’re studying where it makes sense” to place new stores.
“We could pop up tomorrow in California. We could pop up tomorrow in Texas. We’re evaluating the right partnerships,” with the goal of ensuring that potential partners “represent the Cosmo brand” in accordance with TGI’s standards.
“It’s all about the right partner, the right market, the right location and that partner’s reputation in that market,” says Gonzalez.
“If we’re going to put our name on something, we want it to be a good experience for the end customer. That’s what it’s all about.”
