EDMONTON, Alberta-In the span of one week, Fountain Tire Corp. has purchased 14 current and former Goodyear Certified Auto Center stores in Alberta from Goodyear Canada Inc. Fountain Tire purchased seven stores in Calgary on May 8, and seven more in Edmonton on May 15 from Goodyear Canada, which owns a 49-percent stake in Fountain Tire Corp.
The purchases give Fountain Tire 33 corporate-owned stores. The Edmonton-based company is also a 50-50 partner with managers of 36 stores and has an additional 23 affiliated outlets in Alberta and British Columbia, the company said.
Last September, the two companies converted the seven Edmonton stores into Fountain Tire locations to take advantage of Fountain Tire's retail identity without changing ownership.
But Marketing Manager Brent Hesje said Fountain Tire needed more control over the outlets in order to make them successful.
``Our program is one that is more than just marketing,'' Mr. Hesje said. ``We had to have the entire program running in order to make the stores successful and profitable.''
Fountain Tire's ``goal'' is to have all its corporate locations operating as 50-50 ownership partnerships with its managers, Mr. Hesje said. The recently purchased former Goodyear Certified Auto Centers also could eventually become 50-50 partnerships.
But the company asks managers to ``prove they can be profitable'' before the ownership agreement is implemented, he explained.