Plaza Tire opens pair of stores in Arkansas

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Plaza Tire Service has opened retail stores in Bentonville and Siloam Springs, Ark., expanding the dealership's reach to 69 locations throughout its four-state footprint.

Both new stores are eight-bay greenfield constructions, Plaza Tire said, and boost the dealership's presence in the Razorback state to seven locations.

The store in Bentonville, a community of about 50,000 in northwest Arkansas, is located at the intersection of two key streets a few miles south of downtown and spans 8,760 square feet.

The store in Siloam Springs is slightly smaller, at approximately 6,800 square feet, the Cape Girardeau-based dealership said. It's located on State Route 412 a few miles of downtown Siloam Springs, a town of about 16,000 residents in western Arkansas close to the border with Oklahoma.

The Siloam Springs store opened in late 2020, while the Bentonville store opened just recently.

The dealership did not disclose the size of its investment in the store openings nor say how many employees will be on staff at either one.

According to Plaza Tire Vice President Scott Rhodes, the dealership is "really pleased" with the locations of its new stores.

In Bentonville, the store is on a corner lot that "provides great visibility, and traffic count in this part of the city is only expected to increase," he said.

Both new stores are designed to handle inventory of approximately 2,000 tires, Plaza Tire said, and are replenished on a timely basis through the company's warehouse and distribution center in Cape Girardeau.

Commenting on the Bentonville opening, Plaza Tire President Mark Rhodes said: "The people in Northwest Arkansas have welcomed our other stores, and we look forward to serving more customers in this new location."

Both new stores are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for tire installation and repair, wheel balancing, alignment, brakes, shock and strut replacements, oil changes, battery replacements and more.

With 69 locations throughout Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northern Arkansas, Plaza Tire Service is considered the 18th largest independent retail tire dealership in the U.S., according to Tire Business calculations.