WILLIAMSTON, N.C.—Pugh's Tire & Service Centers has opened a store in Williamston, its sixth in and around its home base of Greenville, N.C., and the dealership is looking to add a seventh in the near future.
The new store was a greenfield construction south of the heart of Williamston on U.S. Route 17/Business. The 6,200-sq.- ft. facility has six service bays and six employees and represents an investment of more than $1 million, according to Stacey Pugh, finance director.
The dealership, which will mark its 70th year in business next year, held a grand opening earlier this year with racing legend and Firestone spokesman Mario Andretti in attendance.
Pugh's Tire selected Williamston, a town of about 6,000 residents about 28 miles northeast of Greenville, because it's a growing community with a relatively new shopping district that attracts a lot of business from surrounding small towns and rural areas, Mr. Pugh said.
The new store design—a tan stucco facade—will be the dealership's signature look for new stores and store renovations, Mr. Pugh said. The design is modular, he noted, allowing Pugh's Tire to add bays in pairs depending on site and need.
Pugh's Tire sells the Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear brands and offers a full range of automotive services.
The dealership operates four stores in the Greenville area and one in Washington, N.C., a community of nearly 10,000 about 20 miles east of Greenville. The Washington store opened three years ago.
Pugh's Tire is evaluating plans to replace its original store in downtown Greenville with a newer facility and also is looking at a number of sites outside of Greenville for a seventh location, he added.
Mr. Pugh's grandfather George Locker Pugh founded the business in 1945 as a gas and lube business and shortly therefter established a relationship with Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Mr. Pugh died in 2012 at the age of 89.