CHARLOTTE, N.C. — American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD) has promoted Greg Bell, an ATD executive since 2007, to president of its Tire Pros franchise business, replacing Ron Sinclair, who retired recently after a 15-year career with ATD.
Mr. Bell's promotion was part of a larger and ongoing realignment of the firm's resources, an ATD spokesperson said.
Mr. Bell, vice president of inside sales and call center prior to this promotion, brings "deep company and industry knowledge" to his new job, ATD said, which will be useful in driving growth for the Tire Pros franchise.
"His leadership will be pivotal in our commitment to help drive traffic to our franchisees stores, help them be more profitable and enhance their operations," ATD said.
Mr. Bell joined ATD in 2007 as senior director of operations and was region president, Southeast, prior to his promotion to the vice president post. Prior to joining ATD, he was with Systems Services of America, a beverage and food distribution company, for five-plus years.
Mr. Sinclair, president of Tire Pros and senior vice president, retail strategy for three years, retired officially at the end of July, but continued to work with ATD a few more months during the transition period, ATD said.
He joined ATD in 2003 as vice president of marketing after holding marketing positions with Bruno's Supermarkets, Warner Lambert/Pfizer and Philips Electronics.
At last count, ATD's Tire Pros network stands at 640-plus locations in 45 states.
Separately, ATD said it is nearing the end of another restructuring, which a company spokesperson said included "some realignment within the sales force."
Any reductions in force, the spokesperson said, amounted to "less than 2%" of the firm's workforce.
"It was a very small number," the ATD spokesperson said, with "very minimal impact" to the business.
At the same time, the spokesperson said, ATD is investing in new positions within the company, as well as enhancing its technology platforms — including ATD Online, ATD Mobile and ATD Connect — in order to help customers differentiate and grow their business.
ATD cited its product screen management tool, which keeps customers informed about what's going on in their local markets, as an example of its investment priorities.
Other investments are being directed to sales training and development functions to help the firm's sales teams improve customer relationships.
"Everything we do is centered around the customers," said the spokesperson, who indicated that ATD would be making other major announcements in the weeks to come to provide tools and technologies to its customers.
Some of those announcements are expected to come at the 2020 Tire Pros business conference.
"Our strategy and purpose is to help customers to be successful," the spokesperson said. "We haven't changed doing that. We want to provide them the capability to help our partners stay ahead."