Express Oil buys Savannah Tire

SAVANNAH, Ga. (March 20, 2015) — Express Oil Change & Tire Service has acquired nearly all the assets of Savannah Tire Brake & Alignment Centers, a Savannah-based dealership operating nine retail locations under the Tire Pros umbrella.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Savannah Tire expects to continue operating under that name and with the same management team and employees, according to Trey Cook, the dealership's chief operating officer.

The sale to Birmingham, Ala.-based Express Oil — which is broadening its business into tires and automotive service under the Tire Engineers brand — ends 64 years of ownership by the Kicklighter family.

“It has been our family's honor for three generations to serve the community,” said Mr. Cook, grandson of company founder M.J. “Kick” Kicklighter.

Mr. Cook and his father Hurley Cook described Express Oil as a “quality company.”

“And we hope that our customers give them the opportunity to earn their business,” Trey Cook said. “I expect Express Oil to carry on the Savannah Tire tradition of taking care of our customers and employees.”

Mr. Cook's family has owned the company — which began as Savannah Tire & Rubber Co. Inc. — since its founding in 1951.

This is Express Oil's third acquisition of a retail tire and auto service dealership in the past two years, starting with the purchase in 2013 of Tire Engineers, a Birmingham-based, 66-year-old family-owned dealership with seven outlets.

Express Oil followed that up last summer, buying Epperly Tire Co., a Columbus, Ga.-based dealership with four outlets.

Express Oil now boasts more than 200 outlets, both company owned and franchised, across 13 states stretching from Texas to Virginia, according to its website.