ATHENS, Ga. — Tire Discounters has acquired Porterfield Tire Inc., an Athens-based dealership with one retail store, one retail/commercial location and a wholesale warehouse.
Troy Porterfield, owner of Porterfield Tire, will maintain ownership of the store properties and lease them to Tire Discounters, which is converting the properties in Athens and Watkinsville, Ga., to Tire Discounters signage.
The deal, for which no financial details were disclosed, puts Cincinnati-based Tire Discounters into the commercial tire business for the first time.
Additionally, Tire Discounters is converting the Porterfield Tire warehouse into its third distribution center in a strategic move to accelerate the company's expansion in southern states.
"We only reached out to companies that would continue to look after our customers just like we currently do," Mr. Porterfield said in a quote supplied by Tire Discounters. Porterfield Tire opened in 1972.
"Jamie Ward and the Wood family know how we feel about our customers and our employees, because they feel the same way."
The stores opened Dec. 14 under Tire Discounters control. Athens is a city of 125,000-plus in eastern Georgia, while Watkinsville is a community of about 3,000 just a few miles southwest of Athens.
All of Porterfield Tire employees — including Troy Porterfield's sons Troy Porterfield III and Wes Porterfield — chose to become Tire Discounters' employees, benefiting from the larger company's package of employee benefits.
"It's a real honor that Troy believes in our family to carry on their customer-friendly tradition," Chip Wood, founder and owner of Tire Discounters, said.
"My brother, sister, sons and daughter all work here," he added, "and we're trying our best to make sure that our industry isn't taken over by faceless corporations. Family-run stores are still the heart and soul of the tire business."
This acquisition extends Tire Discounters' footprint in Georgia to five stores and overall to 140-plus throughout six states, stretching from northern Alabama and Georgia to central Ohio and Indiana.
"We are actively looking for family-owned businesses, like Porterfield, that want to maintain a family legacy and a focus on the customer but need help to stay competitive in today's market," Mr. Wood said.
Tire Discounters, the nation's No. 8 independent retail tire dealership, recently disclosed plans to add franchising to its business model.
