PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — March 23 marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of TBC Corp., which has grown from a purchasing group of like-minded retailers to a multi-tiered corporation that claims it influences nearly 10% of all aftermarket tires sold in the U.S.
The story began in 1956 with the formation of Cordovan Associates, a Dayton, Ohio-based purchasing group of tire retailers. Cordovan acquired Big O Tires in 1966 and morphed into Tire & Battery Corp. in 1972. Nine years later it went public under the name TBC Corp.
The company delved into retailing in 2000 with the purchase of Tire Kingdom and expanded that business three years later by acquiring National Tire & Battery (NTB) from Sears Roebuck & Co.
In 2005, Sumitomo Corp. of Americas (SCOA) — a diversified international trading company — purchased TBC and in 2012 bought Midas International.
In 2018, Michelin North America and SCOA entered into an agreement to jointly own TBC and combine their respective wholesale assets into a new business entity under TBC's control called National Tire Wholesale (NTW).
"This is an incredible milestone for our company. We've achieved great success through the hard work, innovative spirit, passion and dedication of our 9,000-plus team members," TBC President and CEO Erik Olsen said.
"Our past is very much a part of our present and our future. As we look towards the next 65 years, we will continue to work diligently to exceed the expectations of our customers, our franchisees, our shareholders, our supplier partners and our associates."
TBC is considered one of the largest marketers of automotive replacement tires in the U.S. through a multi-channel strategy with nearly 3,200 company-operated (Tire Kingdom and NTB Tire & Service) and franchised (Big O and Midas) tire and automotive service centers, 22 proprietary tire brands (under the TBC Brands umbrella) and more than 150 distribution centers (under NTW and TBC International).