Dobbs Tire opens 41st store, breaks ground for No. 42

HIGH RIDGE, Mo. — Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers Inc. has opened its 41st store, in Eureka, Mo., and broken ground on its 42nd store, in Edwardsville, Ill., that the High Ridge-based dealership expects to open in March 2021.

The two events coincide with the dealership's 44th anniversary.

The 1,2000-sq.-ft. store in Eureka — a community of 10,000-plus residents located 20 minutes west of St. Louis on Interstate 44 — is a converted commercial property that features nine service bays and opens with 13 employees, Dobbs said.

"It was an easy decision for us to open in Eureka, as it is a thriving community in which more and more people are choosing to live and work," Dobbs Tire President David Dobbs said.

The dealership started work on the store conversion in January and held a ribbon-cutting Aug. 18.

The store in Edwardsville will be Dobbs' second in that city and eighth retail outlet in southern Illinois.

The 12,000-sq.-ft., 12-bay store will be built on a 1.5-acre parcel on the south side of Edwardsville, a city of 24,000 that home to Southern Illinois University.

Dobbs said it expects the store will employ 15 when it opens.

"The demand for quality tires and auto service continues to grow exponentially in southern Illinois," Mr. Dobbs said. "With the opening of our second store in Edwardsville, our team of dedicated tire and automotive service technicians will be better equipped and able to meet the needs of our current and valued customers, as well as those of new customers, living and working in Edwardsville and the neighboring communities."

Family-owned Dobbs Tire employs more than 500 associates at its 41 stores throughout greater St. Louis and St. Louis County along with Cape Girardeau and St. Charles, Mo., and seven communities in south Illinois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

With 41 retail stores, Dobbs Tire is among the 30 largest independent retail tire dealerships in the U.S., according to Tire Business research.