COLUMBIA, Mo. — MFA Oil Co., through its MFA Petroleum Co. (MPC) business unit, has acquired 13 Big O Tires stores in the Kansas City, Mo., metro area that were operated by Big O Tires franchisor TBC Corp.
The acquisition builds MFA Oil's network of Big O stores to 35 in a three-state area — Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. Eight of the stores acquired are in Missouri and five in Kansas.
"This is a major expansion for our company," Charlie Alexander, senior director of Big O Tires for MPC, said.
"It strengthens our current footprint and helps us build the Big O Tires brand throughout the Kansas City area. We are excited to serve the KC market."
Terms of the deal, which makes MFA the second-largest Big O Tires franchisee nationwide, were not disclosed. Leeds West Groups operates 39 Big O franchises.
The outlets acquired originally were National Tire & Battery retail outlets that TBC sold in 2017 to West Coast Big O Tires franchisee Mark Rhee, who planned to convert them into Big O Tires stores.
Rhee sold the 40-plus NTB properties he acquired in 2017 — including the ones in the Kansas City-area — back to TBC in March 2020.
MFA did not disclose whether the outlets acquired are in leased properties or whether TBC owned any of them outright.
MFA/MPC — a finalist in Tire Business' 2022 Best Places to Work Survey — has been a Big O Tires franchisee since 1998, originally in a 50/50 partnership with TBC. MFA bought out TBC's share in 2015.
The deal will make MFA/MPC one of the largest tire retailers in the Kansas City area, competing with Bridgestone Retail (20-plus Firestone Complete Auto Care and 10 Tires Plus outlets); Discount Tire (10 stores); Telle Tire/KC Complete Auto Service (five stores); and Goodyear Auto Service (five stores).
Columbia-based MFA Oil is a farmer-owned cooperative that supplies fuels, lubricants and propane to its 40,000-plus member customer in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
The deal comes on the heels of TBC's recent announcement that it expects 10 Big O-branded stores to open in the first quarter, as it progresses with plans to take the franchise program nationwide.
