TWI, AutoForce in marketing partnership

CORONA, Calif. (Feb. 19, 2015) — Distribution companies Tire's Warehouse Inc. (TWI) and U.S. AutoForce are collaborating on a comprehensive marketing program for independent tire dealers using AutoForce's Tire One dealer marketing program.

Corona-based TWI and U.S. AutoForce of Appleton, Wis., said the partnership was formed “to share ideas and best practices that address the ever-changing market conditions — with the ultimate goal to better serve their respective customers.”

One benefit of the collaboration, according to the companies, will be the evolution of the Tire One dealer marketing program, which AutoForce acquired in 2011 when it AutoForce purchased the wholesale business of St. Cloud, Minn.-based Royal Tire Inc.

AutoForce described Tire One as building “the independent dealer's sales, profits and brand — giving them a competitive edge.”

Through AutoForce's partnership with TWI, dealers enrolled in the program will have access to progressive marketing solutions and business-building tools to help drive profitable growth, the companies said, adding that “the synergy from the collaboration has fueled custom-tailored solutions for each distribution company and the different markets they serve.”

TWI President Dan King said the distributor “is proud to share the Tire One name for our upcoming dealer marketing program. We are confident it will be the best and most progressive in the industry, and this collaboration is instrumental in making that happen.”

“We know that as two of the industry's strongest wholesale tire distributors, U.S. AutoForce and TWI offer outstanding delivery and customer service, as well as consultative selling to our dealer partners,” said Pat Hietpas, president of U.S. AutoForce, a unit of U.S. Venture Inc.

“By sharing ideas, goals and experiences on the Tire One program, we expect the level of service from both our organizations to become even stronger.”

TWI, established in 1969, operates a fleet of more than 70 trucks providing twice daily service to the Southern California market. According to its website, the company has more than 200 employees, carries over 20 tire brands and more than 8,000 SKUs. Its distribution chain emanates from five California warehouses — in Redlands, Sante Fe Springs, Sylmar, Corona and Fountain Valley.

U.S. AutoForce is a wholesale distributor of national and international tire brands, undercar parts and lubrication services for the automotive aftermarket.

Last December the company acquired Goodyear's company-owned Midwest wholesale distribution business — comprising seven warehouse distribution centers in five states: Denver, Colo.; Woodridge and Bensenville, Ill.; North Kansas City, Mo.; St. Paul, Minn.; and West Allis and Windsor, Wis.

U.S. AutoForce has been on a buying binge in the past few years. In 2013 it acquired the wholesale assets of five Midwestern tire dealerships — Foree Tire Distributors, Midstates Tire Distributors, Schiebout Tire, Shumaker Tire Inc. and Waukegan Tire. The buyouts brought the company eight new warehouses and expanded its distribution territory into Colorado.

It lists 17 warehouse distribution centers on its website, stretching from the Chicago area on the east to Denver in the west and St. Louis in the south.

In addition to Tire One, AutoForce also participates in Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s Tread Pros program, which it calls “a network of high quality independent repair facilities” that provide “an unstoppable force in the automotive marketplace….”