Virginia Tire expands one store, set to open another

SPRINGFIELD, Va. — Virginia Tire & Auto has nearly doubled the size of a retail tire store complex in Springfield and is nearing completion of another store, in Vienna, Va., that should open in early October.

In addition, the Fairfax, Va.-based dealership plans to open two more stores in 2019, in Richmond and Herndon, Va., expanding the dealership's reach to 16 locations.

The expansion of the Springfield location involved demolishing a 1960s-era facility that supported a Shell service station the dealership has operated there since 1980 and building a modern six-bay tire and auto service facility adjacent to an existing Virginia Tire retail outlet that opened in 2008.

A grand re-opening ceremony of the facility, which is co-located with a self-serve Shell gasoline station on the same site, is scheduled for Sept. 11, Virginia Tire said.

The rebuilt facility features façade improvements with landscaping and lighting, the dealership said.

Together the two adjacent facilities have 12 service bays, state-of-the-art equipment, a loaner car service, dedicated customer shuttle, a kids' play area and extended hours.

The store upgrade was undertaken in line with with the Springfield Commercial Revitalization District Development, Virginia Tire said.

Virginia Tire Founder and Chairman Myron Boncarosky bought the property in 1980, when it operated as a Texaco service station. That later changed to Backlick Shell.

In early 2000, Mr. Boncarosky purchased the adjacent Brookfield Plaza Shell and built a Virginia Tire store in 2008 on that property. With this project, Virginia Tire demolished and rebuilt the Backlick Shell facility, bringing the 1960s-era service station to 2018 standards, the company said.

Virginia Tire did not disclose its investment in the project. It reopened for business Aug. 24.

The tire store/service station is located on Backlick Road, one of the main thoroughfares in Springfield, a "census-designated" place in Fairfax County with roughly 30,000 inhabitants.

Springfield is one of nine targeted commercial areas of the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization, which facilitates strategic redevelopment and investment opportunities within targeted communities in the county that align with the community's vision and improves the economic vitality, appearance and function of those areas.

"Our company has a long history with this property and it is important for us to be heavily-invested in the Springfield Revitalization District," Virginia Tire CEO Mike Holmes said.

"As we celebrate more than 40 years in business, we will always deliver the exceptional customer service and matchless experience my father-in-law began in 1976.

"As part of this revitalization project, we will continue to preserve the neighboring Calamo Street Park by maintaining the landscaping at the park — it is our gift to the community," he added.

The new store in Vienna — a suburb of Washington, D.C., with about 16,000 residents — is a nine-bay operation that operated for more than 30 years as a Merchant's Tire & Auto Center. Virginia Tire has budgeted several hundred thousand dollars to renovate the property with new equipment, including in- ground lifts, new facade, new salesroom, etc.

The dealership's other tire stores are in Ashburn (four locations), Centreville, Chantilly, Falls Church, Gainesville, Manassas, South Riding and Sterling.

The Fairfax, Va.-based dealership is among the 90 largest in the U.S. based on store count but among the top 20 or 25 in terms of revenue per store, according to Tire Business' calculations, at more than $3.6 million.