HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Seven independent dealers in five states recently adopted American Tire Distributors Inc.'s Tire Pros retail identity, expanding the group's reach to 640-plus locations in 45 states.
The new franchise locations include two each in North Carolina and Oklahoma and one each in Texas, Oregon and Washington.
The new Tire Pros franchisees are:
- Alliance Tire Pros, Cheney, Wash., owned by Jerad Posey;
- Altus Tire Pros, Altus, Okla., owned by Jeremy Buxton;
- Claremore Tire Pros, Claremore, Okla., owned by Daniel and Tina Smith;
- King Tire Pros, Mebane, N.C., owned by Caroline Massey and Courtney Covington;
- Lake Conroe Tire Pros, Conroe, Texas, owned by the Clegg family trust;
- Southern Tire Pros, Whiteville, N.C., owned by Edwin Russ, Brad Russ and Paige Russ-Brewer; and
- The Shop Tire Pros, Pendleton, Ore., owned by Ron Dirkes.
According to Ron Sinclair, senior vice president of retail strategy and partnerships at ATD, Tire Pros will provide "marketing and operational support to these new franchisees to help drive traffic to their stores and increase profitability to their bottom line."
Mr. Buxton said his dealership considered several companies with which to partner, and Tire Pros was "the clear choice."
"Through the national network of partners, our customers in Oklahoma and Texas are able to access the same type of service nationwide, from a company they can trust," he said.
Mr. Smith said he chose Tire Pros because of its dedication to the success of each franchisee.
"Tire Pros offers insight on how to operate the business profitably with extensive training and support, along with a wealth of knowledge from the other dealers in the network," he said.
Tire Pros is the nation's largest network of independent, locally owned tire dealers. Uniting dealers under a shared national brand, each franchisee benefits from a broad suite of specialized tools and resources, including hands-on support from dedicated Retail Account Managers and advanced marketing tools to help franchisees drive traffic to their stores, enhance their operations and maximize their profitability.
In February, Tire Pros announced that nine independent tire dealers in nine states joined the group. The dealerships are located in California, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.