MOOSIC, Pa. (Dec. 30, 2002) — By late spring, Jack Williams Tire Co. Inc. plans to expand its retail operations with a stronger emphasis on high performance tires.
President and CEO Bill Williams said the Moosic-based company bought an old truck garage on the same corner as a Jack Williams store that had stood there since 1954. Mr. Williams' father and the company's namesake founded the dealership in 1929.
After it's renovated, the new store will boast 19 service bays and 20,000 square feet. Fifteen of those bays will be dedicated to general automotive service—up from 11 bays at the current location—and the remaining four bays and 2,000 square feet will be reserved for high performance service and a showroom.
“I think, really, that's where the growth of our market is going to lie,” Mr. Williams said of the high performance sector.
After the move, the former store will be transformed into six retail shops that will share parking with the dealership's new auto center. Mr. Williams said he plans to court automotive-related retailers, such as stereo shops.
This spring, the company also plans to buy and remodel shops in Elmira, Pa., and Carlisle, Pa., he told Tire Business.
The company's retail and wholesale businesses have been its main focus, Mr. Williams said, since he sold two commercial operations and a retread plant to Goodyear. Jack Williams Tire operates 21 retail outlets and sells primarily Michelin, BFGoodrich, Kelly, Uniroyal, General, Dunlop, Goodyear and American Car Care Centers Inc.'s American Radial private label tires.
“We're still always looking,” Mr. Williams said of the company's expansion plans. “Our plan was (adding) five (locations) a year.”
However, he said formalities—such as rezoning and a historical district in Carlisle—could slow that pace.