EL PASO, Texas — Tire Club Inc. has opened its third location in El Paso and has plans to open a couple more next year.
The dealership, owned by Fernando Aguirre Sr., launched its "mega retail tire store" concept in 2009 with a 70,000-sq.-ft. showroom capable of housing around 30,000 wheels and 40,000 tires. In 2011 the company opened a 95,000-sq.-ft. outlet in El Paso that can store up to 40,000 wheels and 50,000 tires on the floor.
Even though it's called Tire Club, there is no membership required, the company said. The dealership touts its vast offerings of major tire brands for passenger, commercial, OTR, industrial, ATV and farm applications, and has an extensive selection of custom and luxury wheels, including its own private brands.
For its third store, which opened July 1, the dealership took over an existing 30,000-sq.-ft., six-bay building that previously housed an auto repair shop in the Sunland Park Mall on the west side of El Paso.
New stores are planned for Tucson and Rio Rico, Ariz., next year. They, and future stores, will be similar in size to the first two "big box warehouse" locations, the company said.
"Since we took over this (Sunland Mall) store, in this particular area, we had to work with a smaller size. But only for this particular store," the company said, noting that the Arizona stores will be built on personal properties by next summer.
The three stores, which only offer mounting and balancing services, are open every day, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and offer customers free popcorn, hotdogs, soft drinks, bottled water, coffee and cookies.
Mr. Aguirre also operates California Tires in Nogales, Ariz., and Tire & Wheel Wholesale Warehouse in Tucson.