AKRON — Business collectives — franchises, marketing groups, buying groups, affinity groups, etc. — continue to grow and gain converts as independent tire dealerships seek to balance the accelerating growth-by-acquisition trend among larger tire and auto service chains.
Among those showing measurable growth in the past year are:
Big O Tires — franchisees opened 57 stores in 2017, including 44 NTB Tire & Service Center locations that were converted to Big O signage in a deal with franchisee Mark Rhee, expanding the Big O network to 449 stores in 23 states. The growth includes stores for the first time in Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.
The target in 2018 is 25 new locations, along with renewing 90 percent of the 28 franchise agreements up for renewal, Big O execs said at the group's annual meeting in May. In five years, the TBC Corp. business unit envisions growing to as many as 700 stores, including locations in at least five more states.
K&M Tire Inc. — K&M expanded its Mr. Tire/Big 3 Tire associate dealer programs by nearly 400 points of sale. Included in the growth were dozens of former B1 Advantage dealers in New England that previously were working with MotoStar Tire & Auto Products — a Best-One Tire affiliated wholesaler — who converted to Big 3 Tire following K&M's purchase of MotoStar in November 2017.
BothPoint S U.S. and Point S Canada continued to add dealers, with Point S U.S. pushing eastward and Point S Canada westward. Both have signed distribution partners in areas targeted for expansion — Point S U.S. with Nussbaum Distributing Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., and Point S Canada with North Country Tire Distributors Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta.
Point S Canada recently signed its first two dealers in Alberta and is recruiting members in the Maritimes Provinces.
Meineke Car Care Centers added 50 locations in 2017 and management anticipates similar growth in 2018, along with a plan to accelerate a "light re-imaging" of about 200 of its franchised locations. The franchise chain is approaching the 1,000-store mark in North America.
Other developments worth noting:
Best-One Tire & Service is rethinking its B1 Advantage associate dealer program after MotoStar Tire — a Best-One-affiliated wholesaler in Merrimack, N.H. — was bought by K&M Tire, which is introducing its own Big 3 Tire dealer program to MotoStar dealers throughout New England.
Monro Inc. continued to buy up Car-X Tire & Auto franchised locations, with 24 now under its direct control. The total number of Car-X locations has fallen by eight to 138 in the three years since Monro bought it.
Several marketing groups that participated in the survey process this year noted changes to their programs, including:
• Bridgestone Americas/Affiliated Retailers— helping dealer members keep pace with changing consumer buying habits and trends and providing turnkey solutions to help them attract and retain customers.
• Continental Tire the Americas/Gold Program — volume bonus levels were increased; Continental credit card offers more rewards.
• Hankook Tire America Corp. — revised the minimum qualifying purchase levels and raised premium rewards to a maximum of $12/tire.
• Independent Tire Dealers Group — added a sales director for the eastern U.S. to help with recruiting new members in that region.
• Jack Williams Tire Co./myTireShop — began offering a location-specific online tire shopping link to each participating shop, to enable 24/7 shopping, and plans to provide more guidance on developing the online shopping experience.
• Kal Tire — launched an e-commerce platform in 2017; planning to launch a branded credit card program this summer.
• Kenda Tire USA — ramping up digital promotional campaigns to drive more customers to the firm's Traction program dealers.
• Integra Tire — launched a warranty program dubbed Integrity Promise; looking for dealer members in eastern Canada.
• Pirelli Tire L.L.C./Fastrak — introduced an annual growth reward bonus.
• Rent-A-Tire L.P. — added a franchising component to its company-owned store network, in the wake of some acquisitions over the past few years. The Los Angeles-based company is reviewing and evaluating this avenue to determine if the franchising model is a good fit.
• Tire Alliance Group — added the Pantera private brand tire line to the products offered and is recruiting new members in "strategic geographic territories."
• Tirecraft Canada — Implementing a new strategic plan dubbed "Road Map" that incorporates initiatives to enhance dealer engagement, improve the customer experience, recruit new dealers and enhance the groups' commercial offerings, among other things.
• Tire Solutions Inc. — working to add insurance programs for dealer members.
• United Tire & Service L.L.C. — completed the integration of a new customer relationship management stystem and launched a new customer loyalty program.