Acquisitions Bethlehem, Pa.-based Service Tire Truck Centers Inc. (STTC) has acquired Monaghan Rubber Co. in Rio Grande, N.J., for an undisclosed sum.
Monaghan had three locations in New Jersey—a stand-alone Bandag retread shop, a commercial truck tire center which includes a Bandag shop and a retail outlet.
The new locations will operate under the STTC name. The company now has 15 locations including four Bandag shops. The two Monaghan retread facilities produce about 160 tires per day—increasing STTC's daily production to more than 800.
``They (Monaghan) were an excellent competitor, a great competitor for many years,'' said Ron Bennett, president and CEO of STTC. Jim Monaghan Jr. will remain with STTC as regional general manager.
Based on 1998 sales of $60 million, Tire Business ranked STTC as the nation's 11th-largest commercial dealership.
Mr. Bennett would not say how much the acquisition of Monaghan will add to sales for STTC, which has customers in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. But he said the company is ``looking to grow in other areas within our market area.''
White Tire Distributors Inc. (WTD) in Roanoke, Va., has purchased Seaboard Bandag Inc., with locations in Norfolk and Newport News, Va., for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition—including a Bandag retread plant and two commercial outlets—will add more than $5 million to WTD's annual sales, which were $47.2 million in 1998.
Retreading accounts for about 30 percent of the company's sales, said David White, company founder and president, adding that the Seaboard Bandag plant should increase WTD's retread production from 600 to 700 units per day.
``We want to become the dominant player in Virginia,'' he said. The purchase of Seaboard's Norfolk location now gives White Tire Distributors a presence in Virginia's largest city.
Mr. White founded White Tire in 1972 after a stint as a high school teacher and football and basketball coach at a Roanoke-area high school.
Tire Business ranked WTD as the 14th-largest commercial dealership in North America in 1998.
With the latest acquisition, the 300-employee company will have 14 sales and service center locations throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
Expansion
Merchants Inc. opened two new locations on Sept. 20, in Gaithersburg, Md., and Virginia Beach, Va.
The Manassas, Va.-based dealership now has 115 locations in the mid-Atlantic region—nearly half of them in the Washington, D.C-Baltimore area.
Merchants said it plans to open three more dealerships before year-end and will add 30 more in 2000.
Award
Lewis General Tires Inc., founded in 1919 in Rochester, N.Y., has been honored by Continental General Tire Inc. as the first and only dealership to sell General-brand tires for 80 years.
Wilma Lewis, owner and board chairman, accepted the award from Mike Barker, commercial regional manager for CGT, and Dave Misbrener, commercial product manager for the tire manufacturer's northeast region.
Mrs. Lewis' sons, Richard Jr. and Steven, serve as the dealership's president and vice president, respectively.
Toy collection
Independent Goodyear dealers and company-owned auto service centers will become drop-off points for donations to the 1999 ``Toys for Tots'' campaign, which runs Oct. 1 to Dec. 22.
The Akron-based tire maker is a major corporate sponsor for the annual community service program begun 50 years ago by the U.S. Marine Corps to provide toys for needy children during the holiday season.
Goodyear retailers will display posters designating them as national sponsors, and the company said many of its dealers are expected to create ``novel'' Toys for Tots collection bins out of tires.