Belle names Don Barnes III president, retail

(Belle Tire Inc. photo)
Don Barnes III

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (Oct. 14, 2014) — Belle Tire Inc. has promoted Don Barnes III, grandson of dealership patriarch Don Barnes Sr., to president of retail operations.

Mr. Barnes, 31, will be responsible for the day-to-day operations at all retail stores and will oversee Belle Tire's commitment to “top-shelf” customer experience, lowest tire price possible standards and ensuring Belle Tire's place as one of Michigan's outstanding family companies, the dealership said in a press release.

“The continued success of the company is my highest priority,” he said. “We want to have an even greater impact than years past, and I look forward to creating more growth and opportunities here at Belle Tire.”

He had been vice president, retail, since October 2012, and prior to that marketing director from June 2008. Mr. Barnes started with his family's company in September 2005 as operations and marketing manager after earning a bachelor's degree in marketing from Michigan State University.

Belle Tire has 90 retail stores throughout Michigan's lower peninsula and northwest Ohio. That total makes the dealership the 10th largest independent tire retailer in the U.S., according to Tire Business' latest Top 100 ranking.

Retail accounts for about 80 percent of Belle Tire's annual corporate sales revenue.

He is the third generation of the Barnes family in the dealership's management team. His father Don Barnes Jr. continues as chairman of the dealership, with his uncle Robert Barnes as CEO.

The Barnes family has been active in Belle Tire since the late 1960s when Don Barnes Sr. bought into the dealership, which had opened in 1922. By the early 1980s the Barnes family had acquired Belle Tire outright.

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