Acquisition Conrad's Total Car Care and Auto Centers has acquired Goodyear's nine remaining company-owned locations in the greater Cleveland area. The deal closed on May 1.
The purchase price was not disclosed. Longtime Goodyear dealer Conrad's now has 26 stores in metropolitan Cleveland.
According to the company, it will convert the former Goodyear Tire & Auto Service locations to its format, and will continue to carry Goodyear products under Conrad's independent dealer program.
Dominic Umek, Conrad's general manager, said the new stores ``fill a huge gap for us,'' providing the dealership with more geographic balance throughout the city—an improvement that will increase the effectiveness of the firm's local newspaper and radio advertising.
Conrad's also operates a wholesale division.
Fire
Lightning struck the roof of the Piedmont General Tire store in Dandridge, Tenn., on July 27, starting a fire that destroyed the building.
Dandridge Volunteer Fire Department Chief G.P. McCoig said two men who were working in the rear of the building at the time of the blaze escaped uninjured.
``We saved a tire changer, some tools and some tires,'' he said. Firefighters were on the scene for four hours to keep the blaze from spreading to ``the big old houses around it,'' he added.
The historic 100-year-old building that housed the tire dealership had formerly been a general store. The chief said the tire store also sold paint and other hardware supplies including propane gas tanks, which helped fuel the blaze. No estimate of loss has been made.
Mr. McCoig said the same storm also caused three traffic accidents in Dandridge and damaged 18 houseboats and a boat dock on nearby Lake Jefferson.
Expansion
Dunn Tire Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y., has opened a retail store in Fredonia, N.Y., giving the western New York based-chain another location along the New York State Thruway/ Interstate 90 corridor between Erie, Pa., and Syracuse, N.Y.
With the store's opening on July 8, Dunn Tire now has 24 locations.
Dunn Tire—which belongs to the Memphis, Tenn.-based American Car Care Centers Inc. marketing group—offers Michelin, Dunlop, Kelly, Pirelli and other brands along with alignments and custom wheels.