Pneus Unimax Ltee., a dealers' cooperative operating under the Unipneu banner throughout Quebec and neighboring provinces, is joining forces with France's Point S Developement, a buying and retail marketing cooperative active in 27 countries worldwide.
Pneus Unimax's interest in being the Point S master franchisee for Canada was motivated by the “international image and recognition of point S we will use to expand our network with a long-term target to represent 300 retail outlets,” said Unimax President Bruno Leclair.
This is Lyon, France-based Point S's second foray into North America in the past year. Point S and Independent Tire Dealer Group (ITDG) signed a similar pact last November at the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show covering the ITDG's 350 dealer outlets throughout the U.S.
The Unipneu network consists of 75 stakeholders operating 116 points of sale—predominantly in Quebec (112)—with two each in Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces, according to the firm's website. Unimax also operates a “sub-dealer” program, called Mega-Pneu, for garages or mechanical repair shops that are looking for a tire supply program. There are 231 Mega-Pneu locations.
Unipneu dealers throughout Quebec apparently will continue to use the Unipneu identity/signage, because of the “significant customer awareness” the network has achieved in Quebec, and Unimax will use the Point S signage/image in underdeveloped areas of Quebec and in other provinces.
In announcing the agreement, Pneus Unimax President Bruno Leclair stressed that his company and Point S are “independent dealer networks that share the same philosophy” and that “numerous similarities between both networks were conducive to exchanges between the managements of both companies from the outset.”
The management of both organizations “very quickly realized the strong similarities and the market challenges they were encountering and that numerous opportunities for synergy in the interest of both groups lay ahead,” Mr. Leclair said.
“We have also been impressed by the cohesion and international vision shared by all the national point S managers we met,” he added.
Pneus Unimax did not divulge any financial details of the deal.
Point S comprises more than 1,200 independent dealers operating more than 2,400 points of sale throughout 24 European countries, the U.S. and South Africa. Earlier this year it struck distribution deals with groups in Estonia, Slovenia, South Africa and Sweden.
Collectively the members of Point S sell more than 15 million tires annually, including about 1 million in the business' own Summerstar and Winterstar brand, made by Continental A.G.