NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bridgestone Americas Inc. is divesting the bulk of its remaining GCR commercial tire service and retreading assets to three buyers, including Pomp's Tire Service and Southern Tire Mart.
The divestment comprises 51 GCR commercial sales/service locations and nine retread plants in California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington, Bridgestone said, noting the transactions are in the final stages.
Bridgestone did not identify the third buyer nor specify the number and/or type of locations each buyer will take over. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The company did say the sale of these GCR locations to strategic independent dealers is part of an ongoing effort to strengthen and secure Bridgestone's commercial tire distribution network in the U.S to deliver long-term tire sales growth.
All parties involved are conducting their respective due diligence, Bridgestone said, with the transition of stores to their respective buyers expected to be completed in September.
As part of this strategy, Bridgestone plans to retain nine GCR stores and two retread plants that will operate under a revamped GCR Mining business unit.
These transactions continue a series of divestments by Bridgestone of GCR assets over the past few years. At its height, the GCR network comprised over 200 sales locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
In 2021, Bridgestone sold 15 GCR Tires & Service stores, two retread plants and one off-the-road (OTR) tire repair facility in eastern Canada to Kal Tire.
That deal covered locations in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. Prior to this deal, Kal Tire's network of 250-plus retail and commercial stores were located predominantly in western Canada but stretching as far east as Ontario.
Prior to that, Bridgestone divested 101 commercial service outlets and a dozen retread plants during 2019-20:
- Pomp's Tire Service Inc. acquired 19 GCR Tires & Service (GCR) stores in nine upper Midwest and Great Plains states (January 2020);
- Boulevard Tire Center took over 10 GCR Tire stores and one retread plant in Florida and Georgia (August 2019);
- McCarthy Tire Service bought 13 GCR Tires & Service stores and three retread plants in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia (June 2019);
- Southern Tire Mart acquired 46 GCR stores and six retread plants in the southern U.S. (March 2019); and
- Parkhouse TIre Inc. took over four GCR service locations and two retread plants in California. (first quarter 2019).
