Wonderland Tire buys Sumerel Tire; adds 3 retread plants

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Commercial tire dealer/retreader Wonderland Tire Co. of Grand Rapids has acquired Sumerel Tire Service Inc., the Newport Ky.-based retreader and developer of the AcuTread mold-cure retreading system.

The acquisition includes Sumerel Tire's commercial tire/retread plants in Bluffton, Ohio; Lebanon, Tenn.; and Newport, which will boost Wonderland's retreading capacity to over 137,000 units a year at the four plants it now operates, Wonderland Tire CEO Jon Langerak said.

Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Wonderland Tire has been a licensed AcuTread retreader since 1998.

Sumerel Tire CEO Bob Majewski called the transaction "more than just an ordinary business deal" and a "natural step in our overall strategic plans for both companies.

"This is a marriage of like-minded cultures and people who know each other and share in a common commitment to quality products, our customers and employees," he said.

Besides making and selling AcuTread retreads, Wonderland Tire and Sumerel sell the same new tire brands, Mr. Majewski said, so the combination will provide "increased scale and geographic reach in the competitive and continually evolving tire market/industry."

The deal with Wonderland Tire will allow Sumerel Tire's experienced management team to stay in place, Mr. Majewski added, "so our customers will continue to receive the same great service they have come to love and expect. No one will be leaving the Sumerel team as we join the Wonderland Tire family."

The combined company will have sufficient capacity to qualify Wonderland Tire as one of the 25 largest commercial tire retreaders in the U.S., according to Tire Business calculations.

Mr. Langerak said he first met Mr. Majewski 33 years ago, when Mr. Majewski, then employed by Hercules-Cedco, sold Wonderland Tire its first curing chamber.

"Our two companies have worked together for 24 years and have developed a close working partnership with similar goals, technologies, business processes," said Mr. Langerak, "and most importantly producing top quality remanufactured tires to reduce fleet owner's costs and increase customer satisfaction."

Wonderland will have 13 sales locations in six states — Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee — to complement its retreading business.

Sumerel Tire was founded by Tom Sumerel. It operates under three business identities — Hancock County Tire in Bluffton; Wilcon County Tire in Lebanon; and Sumerel Tire Service in Newport. Sumerel Tire's retreading plants also use the Marangoni RingTread system and use Galgo Pre-Q precured tread rubber as well.

Mr. Majewski became part owner of Sumerel Tire in 1994, and in 1995 the company trademarked the AcuTread process and began commercializing it.

Wonderland Tire adopted the AcuTread process in 1998 after testing it for a year. It replaced the Oliver Precure System at Wonderland's Grand Rapids plant.

In 2002 Messrs Majewski and Langerak partnered with Henry and Earl Kamps, and Dave Langerak of Wonderland Tire and Terry Westhafer of Central Tire to form AcuTread Alliance Group.

In 2014 the Kamps and Langeraks bought the AcuTread process and trademark from Messrs. Majewski and Westhafer. Mr. Westhafer sold his business in 2019 to Rice Tire Co.