East Bay opens commercial service location in Arizona

YUMA, Ariz. — Wholesale and commercial tire dealer East Bay Tire Co. (EBT) has opened a service location in Yuma, its second outside of California and first permanent location in Arizona.

EBT has had a temporary location in Arizona for the last two years.

The Yuma location, which will serve customers throughout Yuma County and neighboring Imperial Valley in California, will provide "the largest inventory of tires and tire products," according to the company, as well as offer fleet service, 24-hour emergency assistance, tire foam filling and mobile tire press for solid forklift tires.

EBT, in his fourth generation of family ownership, was founded in 1946 in Oakland. It has eight service locations in northern California and and four service locations and a retread plant in Hawaii, including a pair of R&G Tire Center outlets.

EBT has had a sales presence in Yuma for years, according to East Bay Tire CEO George Pehanick, but "establishing a permanent service center will continue to help us maintain continuity with the customers and businesses that transition from the Salinas Valley to Yuma throughout the year."

Adalino Figueroa has been hired to manage the new service center. According to EBT, Mr. Figueroa has 24 years of tire industry experience including commercial and retail tire sales, tire service, and managing wholesale tire programs.

Prior to joining EBT, Mr. Figueroa was West Coast zone manager for Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT), specializing in agriculture tire sales.

"We are pleased with the growth we've experienced in recent months in Yuma and look forward to the many opportunities Adalino and his team will bring in 2018," said John Hulsey, East Bay Tire general manager.

The new location is east of the Yuma Airport with access to Interstate 8.

The company said it currently had no other plans to add more locations, but said it is "always evaluating growth opportunities where we currently have locations ... if the opportunity arises, we will take advantage of it."