Monro buying 8 Martino stores in Fla.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Feb. 10, 2015) — Monro Muffler Brake Inc. has agreed to buy eight Martino Tire retail tire and auto repair stores in South Florida and plans to convert them to its Tire Choice & Total Car Care brand.

Monro said in its recent third quarter 10Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects the deal to close during its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter, which ends in late March.

Monro did not identify Zafco International Inc. as the Martino stores' owner, but Zafco has owned the Martino Tire retail business since 2012.

Zafco declined to comment at this time. Monro said in the filing the deal was signed Jan. 28.

Three of the Martino Tire retail stores are in Miami proper; the others are in Davie, Margate, Miami Beach, Royal Palm Beach and Sunrise. Zafco has one commercial tire outlet, in West Palm Beach, according to Martino Tire's website.

The deal comes just a few weeks after Monro acquired nine Gold Coast Tire & Auto Centers retail stores in the Palm Beach, Fla., area. Monro is rebadging the dealership's outlets with the Tire Choice brand.

Monro also disclosed in its third quarter earnings results that it had closed two separate transactions that represented approximately $19 million in annualized sales but identified only the Gold Coast deal.

Adding the Martino Tire deal to the retailer's earlier statement would quantify the two transactions at 17 stores and $19 million in sales.

The Gold Coast and Martino Tire footprints overlap to an extent, with the Martino stores further to the south.

Once the Martino Tire stores are converted, Monro will have 50-plus Tire Choice outlets in South Florida. Monro executives said in mid-2014, after buying the Tire Choice business, that they see the potential for 150 or more retail outlets in Florida.

The deal appears to put an end to Zafco's plans to build a wider retail network using the Martino Tire name. Last summer Zafco General Manager Minoo Mehta told Tire Business Zafco was planning to open as many as 100 retail stores across the U.S. using the Martino name.

Zafco's primary business is wholesaling. In North America it distributes the Accelera and Zeetex brands along with the Armstrong brand it relaunched in 2013.