Belle, Tredroc merging commercial businesses

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (Aug. 12, 2016) — Belle Tire Distributors is merging its commercial division with Tredroc Tire Services of Elk Grove Village, creating a joint venture that will be considered among the five or six largest commercial dealerships in the U.S.

The venture, to operate under the Tredroc Tire Services name, will have 24 locations in six states — Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin — along with seven Bandag-system retread plants, the partners said. The venture should be fully operational by year-end.

The venture, to be owned jointly by Belle Tire and Tredroc, also will incorporate the business of the partners' existing Belleroc Tire Services joint venture, which encompasses their respective off-the-road tire servicing assets in Michigan and Ohio.

Don Barnes Jr., president of Belle Tire, will be chairman of the new Tredroc venture, and John Lavelle Sr., CEO of Tredroc, will be vice chairman. They expect to announce the full executive team — which will include Tom Bowman of Belle Tire and Tony Lavelle and Steve Weakley of Tredroc — by the end of August.

Belle Tire and Tredroc formed the Belleroc joint venture in 2009,  saying at that time it would allow them to “synergize and shore up” their businesses in truck, earthmover and industrial tires and service.

The companies said the success of Belleroc has led them to expand the partnership to the full commercial services venture. They said their vision for the new venture is to combine the talent, locations, and resources of all three companies while continuing to focus on customer service through a new, larger footprint in six states.

“The merger allows us to work jointly to give commercial customers the opportunity to have a single-source tire and service provider for their operations across the region,” Mr. Lavelle Sr. said.

“It's also a great way to increase our strength in the marketplace with a larger team, allowing our separate retail operations to focus solely on our in-store experience,” Mr. Barnes Jr. added.

Belle Tire's retail operations, headed by CEO Jack Lawless, are not part of the merger.

The venture should post annual sales of roughly $300 million. Tredroc was ranked No. 8 last year among U.S. commercial tire dealerships, while Belle was considered 16th.

The venture likely will be among the seven or eight largest truck tire retreaders in the U.S., based on their 2015 production. Together the companies have capacitie for more than 1,700 tires a day