KEENE, N.H. — VIP Tires & Service has opened a retail store in Keene, its 20th store in the Granite State and 63rd throughout New England.
The new store, which features nine service bays, is housed in a 9,000-sq.-ft. former heavy-duty truck repair facility that VIP has been renovating since last May.
"This was a unique store opening for us that required a lot of planning and preparation to get renovations of the existing facility under way," VIP Tires President and CEO Tim Winkeler said. "We love the idea of renovating buildings that are no longer used, so with the official remodeling starting in spring 2020, we're thrilled to now open this new store to kick off 2021.
"Keene has been a target market for us for a long time, and with our other stores just far enough away to be challenging for customers in this neck of the woods to get to, we're excited to provide our unique tires and service offerings to Keene residents."
VIP did not disclose its investment in the renovation project. Keene is a city in southwest New Hampshire with a population of about 23,000. VIP's next closest store is in Hillsborough, N.H., about 24 miles northeast of Keene.
The new stores has storage capacity on-site for up to 2,000 tires, VIP said, and features an open-plan customer waiting area that holds 40 tires on display so customers can see and touch different models before making their purchase decision.
The Keene opening is VIP Tire's fourth in the past year. In December it opened a store in Worcester, Mass., and earlier in the fourth quarter it opened stores in Brookline, Mass., and Rutland, Vt., and relocated a store in Windham, Maine.
With 63 stores, VIP Tires is considered the 21st largest independent retail tire dealership in the U.S., according to Tire Business data.
