DELPHOS, Ohio— K&M Tire Inc. has been busy the last several months, with an acquisition and the opening of a new warehouse, along with plans on the drawing board for additional space at its Delphos distribution center.
The Delphos-based wholesaler has purchased the assets of Kelle Oil Co.'s wholesale tire division located in Braman, Okla. The acquisition, effective July 10, included tire inventory and a customer list of Kelle's wholesale tire customers.
Kelle Oil distributed about 10 brands of tires in the farm, commercial and passenger and light truck tire categories. The company will continue to operate under the Kelle Oil name, according to K&M, and focus solely on its retail/commercial tire store and oil distribution business.
“We are very excited about this opportunity with Kelle Oil to expand and add to our customer base in Kansas and Oklahoma.” said Cheryl Gossard, K&M Tire vice president. “Customer service is our No. 1 priority. We will focus on making sure we have the inventory in stock that they need, along with providing them with dependable deliveries.”
K&M said it plans to service its new customers from its existing warehouses in the Oklahoma City and Wichita areas.
Founded in 1970, K&M Tire operates 18 distribution centers in 11 states throughout the Great Lakes, Midwest, Great Plains and South Central regions, servicing customers in more than 20 states. It distributes about 20 brands of passenger and light truck tires, 12 brands of truck tires and 10 brands of farm tires.
K&M added that it will continue to look for growth opportunities throughout the Midwest and Southwest regions of the U.S.
In an effort to continue to improve its service, K&M opened its 18th distribution center in May in Solon, Ohio, in the Cleveland area. The company said the new 37,000-sq.-ft. facility allows it to increase deliveries into Northeastern Ohio—a market K&M entered a little over a year ago—to service customers as far east as New Castle, Pa., and as far south as Coshocton, Ohio.
Daniel Stokes, manager of the warehouse, said that after two months of operation, the company is offering four daily routes from the facility, which has five fulltime employees. Prior to the opening of the warehouse, Mr. Stokes coordinated daily tire deliveries from K&M's Delphos and Toledo warehouses to customers in northeastern Ohio “without the luxury of a brick-and-mortar building,” according to the company. He helped to oversee the installation of racks and organize the tire inventory as the new distribution center was preparing to open for business.
“The addition of this building will allow us to make sure our customers in northeastern Ohio receive the top-notch service we feel they deserve and should expect from K&M Tire,” Ms. Gossard said.
The dealership also recently received a tax incentive from the City of Delphos for a proposed 84,000-sq.-ft. warehouse addition at K&M's facility on Spencerville Road in the city.
K&M said it will move forward with the addition after Delphos City Council passed, on emergency measure, a tax abatement for the company and property owner Langhals Enterprise L.L.C.
Prior to the vote Ken Langhals, K&M president, addressed council and outlined the project. “The new building will be going up on the south side of the existing building,” he said.
“I am asking for the tax abatement so I can put that warehouse up here. There are a lot of other states I have warehouses in that would be more advantageous as far as doing business but I live here and would prefer to keep it here.”