GREEN BAY, Wis. — Pomp's Tire Service Inc. has acquired 19 GCR Tires & Service (GCR) stores in nine upper Midwest and Great Plains states from Bridgestone Americas Inc., expanding its network to 108 commercial truck tire service locations across 11 states.
The locations acquired are in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Wisconsin, the companies said, allowing Green Bay-based Pomp's — the fourth largest commercial dealership in the U.S. and a longtime Bandag system retreader — to expand both within its existing footprint and into new territories.
The deal trims the GCR network to 70 locations in the U.S. and Canada, down from over 200 just a few years ago. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Our mission is to provide customers with best-in-class tires and service," Pomp's Tire CEO Jim Wochinske said. "This means we need a strong network of service locations that are staffed by long-tenured tire experts. The purchase of these GCR locations allows us to expand our footprint in the Midwest, while also bringing more knowledge and expertise to our team, which is truly the biggest advantage of this transaction."
Scott Damon, group president, operations, Bridgestone Americas, said Bridgestone is focused on implementing strategies to secure commercial distribution "ensure we are meeting the needs of fleet customers across our company-owned GCR stores and the independent dealer channel.
"Partnering with Pomp's allows us to further strengthen our commercial tire distribution network and position our brands and fleet solutions for growth as we enter 2020."
The deal likely will expand Pomp's Tire's sales sufficiently to push the dealership past Best One Tire to a solid No. 3 among the U.S.'s largest independent commercial tire dealerships and to No. 4 among retreaders, according to Tire Business calculations.
This is the fifth tranche of GCR assets that Bridgestone has sold in the past 18 months, encompassing 82 commercial service outlets and a dozen retread plants.
Other recent deals include:
- 10 GCR Tire stores and one retread plant in Florida and Georgia to Boulevard Tire Center of Deland, Fla.;
- 13 GCR Tires & Service stores and three retread plants in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia to McCarthy Tire Service of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.;
- 46 GCR stores and six retread plants in the southern U.S. to Southern Tire Mart of Columbia, Miss.; and
- Four GCR service locations and two retread plants to Parkhouse Tire Inc. of Bell Gardens, Calif.
At the same time, Bridgestone added a pair of locations to the GCR network late last year, buying Tires Inc., a commercial tire dealer with stores in Chehalis and Tumwater, Wash.
GCR's remaining outlets in the U.S. are concentrated predominantly throughout the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest states and California.