CHICAGO — Belle Tire has secured a marketing partnership with the Chicago Blackhawks NHL franchise to help support and promote its entry into the Chicago market.
Detroit-based Belle Tire, the nation's ninth largest independent retail tire dealership with 128 stores, disclosed plans recently to open up to 60 stores in the Chicago metro area in the coming four years.
Belle Tire's deal with the Blackhawks involves the placement of the company's logo on the sides of players' home and away helmets, Belle Tire said, and makes Belle Tire the official tire retailer of the franchise.
Neither the length of the deal nor financial terms were disclosed.
The deal ties into Belle's long history of supporting hockey at the NHL and elite amateur levels. In Detroit the company has partnered with the Red Wings for over a quarter-century and supports the Belle Tire Hockey Club it founded 24 years ago to help youth players develop skills on and off the ice.
Belle Tire's first stores in the Chicago area — in Naperville, Joliet, Shorewood and Villa Park — are scheduled to open in the coming months, starting in November. The company anticipates this expansion will create nearly 1,000 jobs and have an overall economic impact of $325 million in the region over the next four years.
"Hockey is part of Belle Tire's DNA, and we are extremely excited to partner with the Chicago Blackhawks and their fans to support the game we love so much," Belle Tire President Don Barnes III said. "Belle Tire and the Chicago Blackhawks are family-owned businesses with long traditions of supporting our local communities.
"As Belle Tire approaches its 100th anniversary we are thrilled to partner with an organization that is a local icon but also is part of the cultural fabric of the Chicagoland community."
Jamie Faulkner, president of business operations for the Blackhawks, said Belle Tire brings a set of values to Chicago "that complements our vision for the future of the Blackhawks across all aspects of our business.
"It's these shared commitments to serving our local communities and growing youth hockey in Illinois that make us incredibly excited for the long-term potential of this partnership."
Belle Tire will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022. The company is named for Belle Waze, wife of company founder Sam Waze. The company goes to market under a "Lowest Tire Price, Period!" moniker.
