Unimax hosts two-day congress for Canadian retailers, suppliers

SAINT-HYACINTHE, Quebec — Around 425 Canadian dealer personnel, representing 350 stores, were on hand Jan. 15-16 in Saint-Hyacinthe for the second annual Unimax Tire Ltd. two-day congress.

Boucherville, Quebec-based Unimax operates seven retail tire marketing programs in Canada — Point S, Point S City, V1, Otobox, Pneus Prestige, Mega Pneus, Pneus Max-Plus and Tire People — accounting for more than 850 points of sale.

"The response from the dealers was very positive," Unimax Tire President and CEO Bruno Leclair said. "This event allows us to present the new products and new services for our dealers. It's the best place to meet all our dealers in one place for a supplier."

Point S Canada, V1 and Otobox revealed plans for 2020 and introduced new products, upcoming marketing campaigns and new dealer services.

During the event, Unimax Tire announced the launch of:

• A strategy to get more traffic outside of the distributor's tire rush events in spring and fall;
• A marketing campaign set to debut this fall;

• An enhanced online customer experience, including a new design and new way to display tires and the ecommerce transactional process; and
• An employer brand later this year;

• Unimax Tire also presented new tires models from its various tire suppliers, along with other products and equipment important to dealers.

Jean-François Champagne, president of the Automotive Industries Association of Canada, presented a program titled "Vision 2020: The future of the automotive aftermarket in Canada."

Alain St-Jacques, business transfer adviser at Centre de Transfert d'Entreprise du Québec (CTEQ), also spoke.

Patrick Lavoie, communications and marketing director, Simon Galarneau, digital marketing director, and Marc-Oliver Gagnon, e-commerce merchandiser, of Unimax Tire discussed marketing and merchandising with dealers.

In addition, retailers had the opportunity to learn more about tires, mechanical work, windshields,wheels, mags and vehicle accessories throughout the show.

Around 80 suppliers were represented at the show, including tire makers Camso, Continental, Cooper, Goodyear, GT Radial, Hankook, Kumho, Michelin, Nexen, Pirelli, Sumitomo (Falken), Toyo, Trelleborg and Yokohama.

Other companies that had display booths include Castrol, Carquest, Shell, Total, Martins Industries, Hunter Engineering, Napa Auto Parts, Uni-Select, John Beam, B-Line and Pedlex.

Unimax Tire is among the largest networks of independent retailers and tire distributors in Canada, selling more than 3 million tires every year while operating in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador).