EDMONTON, Alberta — Trail Tire, a name with deep wholesale roots in western Canada, is gaining traction in the region as a retail brand, with the company behind the name marking 50 years in business.
Founded in 1972 by Roger Ambrosie, Trail Tire Distributors Ltd. grew into a formidable wholesale distributor over the intervening four decades before being acquired in 2014 by American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD).
Allen Ambrosie, Roger's son, kept the rights to the name for the retail sector and worked that end of the business quietly in the intervening five years, waiting for the business' non-compete agreement with ATD to run out.
- This story appears in the Aug. 1 print edition of Tire Business.
Starting with two retail stores in Edmonton in 2014, Allen Ambrosie grew that business to 10 stores by 2019, when the non-compete expired, and today there are over 30 outlets in Alberta and British Columbia flying the Trail Tire flag, including 18 operating as associate dealerships.
Working together with James O'Reilly — a 20-plus-year veteran of the Canadian tire distribution sector — the partners developed an associate-brand program based on the initial success of the Trail Tire retail concept and started marketing it.
The partners go to market under a simple philosophy: Never promise more than we can deliver and always give the customers more than they expect.
"We know that customer service is not enough," the partners said. "We want customer loyalty and we strive for that loyalty every day."
Trail Tire Supply, the distribution entity, has three warehouses in Alberta and British Columbia, concentrating on servicing the independent dealers in the Trail Tire Auto Centers family.
