OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.-Goodyear Next-Tred retreader T&W Tire built a new 30,000-sq.-ft. retread shop in Oklahoma City during the past year.
The new facility, which opened last May, was the Oklahoma City-based dealership's second major retread expansion in 18 months.
In December 1999, T&W Tire also built a new 64,000-sq.-ft. commercial tire and service facility in San Antonio, Texas, about 20,000 sq.-ft. of which is devoted to retreading. Both shops use the Goodyear precure retread process, turning out about 300 units per day in total. The company consumed about 2 million pounds of tread rubber in 2000, according to Darell Theissen, a partner in the enterprise with Charles Wilson.
T&W Tire was formed in 1987 out of the merger of the former Theissen Tire and Wilson Tire, both of which had headquarters in Oklahoma City.
The dealership derived about 95 percent of its $41 million total sales from commercial tire and retreading operations last year. It is striving for approximately a 7-percent increase in sales during the current calendar year.
T&W Tire comprises three solely commercial and two combination commercial-retail outlets as well as one retail store and four warehouses-all of which are company-owned and operate under the T&W Tire banner. Wheel refurbishing and foam filling of tires recently were added to the firm's service offerings.
The company participates in Goodyear's Truckwise total tire servicing program and also handles that tire manufacturer's Goodyear, Kelly and Dunlop brands under the new G-3 multibrand program. It also carries Michelin, BFGoodrich and Toyo brands.
The dealership employs 170 people-approximately 89 of whom are involved in its commercial and retreading operations-and operates 30 service trucks.
About half of the company's commercial sales are to fleet accounts-a figure that doubled in size during the past year, Mr. Theissen said.