For the immediate future, Grace said ATC is not going to make any major changes at the Jerry's Tire locations, beyond giving them more support, more product lines and "more freedom to get out and do what they do best."
ATC plans to eventually add heavy-duty truck repair to the Grand Rapids, Flint and Detroit locations.
"With the full network we now have in Michigan, we are in a great position to provide a unique level of service to trucking fleets throughout the state," Grace said.
"But really the way that we retain the business is just by showing up every day and doing a good job. The sizes of the fleets range from one truck up to hundreds of trucks. But, having said that, we're able to provide good solutions and cater to the exact needs of those customers really, really well. And we're always looking for more and better ways to continue doing that," Grace said.
The dealership just celebrated 25 years of being a Bandag retreader. Currently the dealership produces about 150 truck retreads a day on a four-day weekly schedule. During seasonal uptick in demand, the plant adds a fifth day.
About two years ago the company moved its retreading operation from a 12,000-sq.-ft. facility to a 20,000-sq.-ft. building with an attached warehouse, enabling the dealership to potentially double production capacity to meet future demand.
"I wanted to make sure that if we went into a new market, if we go into Grand Rapids, and we go up to a fleet, we say 'Hey, you've got a big fleet. You've got a lot riding on your tire program. We can take care of you.' I wanted to make sure that I, and really my sales staff, were saying something that was true, something that they could believe in. We didn't want to stretch ourselves too thin. We wanted to make sure that we were going to actually have a resource to be able to get that stuff done because we've seen other companies do it another way and it doesn't work out. We didn't want to get into a situation where we're making promises that we can't keep," Grace said.
"We're going to be able to continually deliver the same level of service that got us the success that we've experienced so far. We want to maintain that."
Jerry's Tire was a large Goodyear tire dealer and a Goodyear retreader. While ATC will stick with Bandag retreading, it will add Goodyear tires to its portfolio.
"We think bringing Goodyear into the fold and being able to sell Goodyear out in the marketplace is a great thing for us. We think it's going to be a great thing for Goodyear. And we're looking forward to working more closely with those people," Grace said, adding, "Goodyear is going to get a great, strong, reliable dealer in the state of Michigan, which they already had, but now with a broader reach with locations being in areas where Jerry's didn't exist."
Grace said he would like to add more retail service locations in the future.
"The Jerry's acquisition was a really big step for us. And you know, and it's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks. We're on top of it and we want to make sure that we're totally comfortable. And we're not going to be stretching ourselves too thin or overextending us by going and doing too much too fast. But, expanding the retail network is definitely part of the long-term plan for sure," he said.
Late last year ATC delved into another business venture — mobile tire service for fleets.
The 4,500-sq.-ft. building in Traverse City is equipped to handle passenger/light truck tires as well as commercial truck tires. The company wants to eventually grow the one-truck operation.
"It fits in our plan of what we want to do," Grace said.