CINCINNATI — Tire Discounters Inc. has identified Knoxville, Tenn., as the next branch of its growing retail store network, with plans to open retail stores there later this year.
At the same time, the Cincinnati-based dealership has relocated a warehouse distribution center it opened in 2015 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., to a 71,000-sq.-ft. facility in nearby LaVergne, Tenn., in order to support its growing network of stores in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee — 14 and counting.
Tire Discounters recently opened its third retail store in the Huntsville, Ala., area and is preparing to open another in Hendersonville, Tenn., in the coming weeks, expanding its network to 113 stores in six states — Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.
Both the Huntsville and Hendersonville stores have over 7,900 square feet of space and eight to 10 service bays. Once fully staffed, each store will employ 13 to 15 associates and technicians from the local community.
Tire Discounters opened a pair of stores in Dalton, Ga., in January that it had acquired in December 2017.
The dealership declined at this time to say how many stores it's planning for Knoxville, which is the largest city in eastern Tennessee, with a population of more than 185,000. The population count includes an estimated 25,000 University of Tennessee students.
Other notable tire dealerships with stores in the Knoxville area include Discount Tire (two stores), National Tire & Battery (two stores), and locally based Free Service Tire (four stores), Matlock Tire Service (four stores) and Fisher Tire Co. Inc. (three stores), along with four Big O Tires franchised stores, four Tire Pros dealers, nine Firestone Complete Auto Care locations and five Goodyear Auto Service Centers.
The new warehouse in LaVergne features a dozen loading docks, a new warehouse management system and close access to Interstate 24, Tire Discounters said.