ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Monro Inc. is continuing its quest to grow in the West, striking a deal to buy Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based Mountain View Tire & Auto Service Inc., which includes 30 retail stores in the Los Angeles area.
The deal, which is expected to close during Monro's fiscal 2022 first quarter, will boost Monro's growing footprint to 76 stores in California and nearly 1,300 nationwide. Monro is considered the largest independent tire retailer in the U.S., according to Tire Business calculations.
Financial terms are not being disclosed. Mountain View Tire represents $45 million in annualized sales, Monro said, in a 70/30 auto service/tires revenue mix.
This deal follows by less than a month the closing of Monro's purchase of Fred Allen Tire Co., a longtime Goodyear dealer with 17 stores in Southern California, to bolster its burgeoning network of stores in the Far West. Monro paid $17.4 million for the Allen stores, which it said were expected generate $20 million in annualized sales, with a 60/40 tires/auto service mix.
Monro did not say whether any members of the Mitsos family — the dealership's founders and owners — would continue to work there under Monro's ownership or whether it will continue to use the Mountain View name. The Rochester-based company's other West Coast stores operate under the Tire Choice brand.
Mountain Vew President and CEO Nick Mitsos said Monro "shares Mountain View's core values to always put the customer first and provide the highest level of informed, dedicated and trusted service, to continue Mountain View's journey.
"I look forward to a bright future under Monro's ownership."
Monro reported that its combined acquisitions in fiscal 2021 represented an expected $65 million in annualized sales.
Monro Chairman and interim CEO Robert Mellor said the acquisition of Mountian View "builds on our growing presence in the dynamic Western United States. Executing on strategically located acquisitions is a critical cornerstone of our growth strategy, and this announcement underscores the progress we have made on capitalizing on attractive opportunities in our fragmented industry."
Mr. Mitsos founded the dealership in 1987 by taking over the first of a dozen Goodyear Tire & Auto Service locations in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Monro has had a presence on the West Coast since 2019 when it bought Certified Tire & Service Centers Inc. of Riverside, Calif. (40 stores).
It added 20 more stores later that year, buying 14 Superior Tire & Service stores in Nevada and four in Idaho, along with S&S Unlimited Inc. — d.b.a. Skip's Tire & Auto — stores in the San Jose area and three Lloyd's Tire Service locations in the Santa Cruz area.
Rochester-based Monro operates 1,264 company-operated stores, 96 franchised locations, seven wholesale locations and three retread facilities. It operates in 32 states, including the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions and portions of the Great Lakes, Midwest, Southeast and Western U.S.