U.S. AutoForce shakes up wholesale tire industry

AKRON, Ohio — There was a seismic shift in the balance of clout among U.S. wholesalers in the past few months, as U.S. AutoForce solidified its position as the No. 2 independent wholesaler in the U.S. with its acquisitions of Treadmaxx Tire Distributors and Max Finkelstein Inc.

Those deals, carried out in October 2021 and January 2022, respectively, nearly doubled U.S. Auto-Force's distribution footprint and ensconced the Combined Locks, Wis.-based company as a major player on the Eastern Seaboard/Northeast for the first time.

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With these deals completed, U.S. AutoForce, a division of U.S. Ventures Inc., now operates 65 wholesale distribution centers in 31 states, providing coverage to customers in nearly all of the 48 contiguous states.

The deals put U.S. AutoForce solidly into the No. 2 slot behind American Tire Distributors Inc., which operates 118 D/Cs in 44 states as well as 24 in Canada under its National Tire Distributors unit.

U.S. AutoForce President Pat Hietpas, in a statement issued in January, called joining forces with Treadmaxx and Max Finkelstein "very strategic for the future of both companies and for our customers."

Prior to the deals, U.S. AutoForce's distribution footprint was heavily skewed to the western U.S. and Southeast.

For now, Max Finkelstein and Treadmaxx continue to operate under those corporate identities, as does Tire's Warehouse, the Corona, Calif.-based company U.S. AutoForce acquired in mid-2018.

U.S. AutoForce operates three retail dealer marketing support programs — Tire One, Tread Pros and Dealer Force — but as yet has not disclosed if or to what extent they may be offered to customers serviced by Finkelstein and/or Treadmaxx.

Tire's Warehouse administers the Tire One program for dealers in several Western states.

Another deal with far-reaching implications is the acquisition of Tire Rack Inc. by Reinalt Thomas Corp. (d.b.a. Discount Tire/America's Tire). That deal puts the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based retailer into wholesaling for the first time via Tire Rack's TR Wholesale Solutions business unit.

Tire Rack, the pioneer in mail-order/online tire sales, changed the name of its Tire Rack Wholesale business in 2016 to TR Wholesale Solutions in order to "more accurately describe what is being offered by this team." TR Wholesale operates 11 distribution centers across the country with total warehousing capacity of 2.7 million square feet.

"We were attracted to Tire Rack for the vision they share with Discount Tire in transforming the omni-channel, B2B and fleet customer experiences," Michael Zuieback, executive chairman of the Discount Tire board of directors, said at the time.

Discount Tire/America's Tire is ranked as the second largest independent retailer in the U.S. with 1,113 stores and annual sales of $5.17 billion in 2020, according to Tire Business research. The firm's sales include undisclosed digital/mail-order revenue from Discount Tire Direct.

Other actions taken by leading wholesalers in the past year include:

TireHub L.L.C. is expanding into three new markets, Tucson, Ariz.; Beltsville, Md.; and McAllen, Texas, and expanding the capabilities of its distribution centers (D/Cs) in Memphis, Tenn., and Metairie, La. 

Wholesale Tire Distributors (WTD), formerly part of ATV Inc., now operates autonomously after Percheron Capital bought ATV's American Tire Depot retail business unit.

Vernon, Calif.-based WTD specializes in proprietary brands, most notably Arroyo, Saffiro and Zestino, and import brands like Iris. Ara Tchaghlassian, one of ATV's original owners, continues to own WTD.

Parrish Tire Co. opened a wholesale distribution center last year in Conway, S.C., and is set to open a 140,000-sq.-ft D/C this year in Smithfield, N.C., expanding the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company's network to six warehouses.

In addition to its Turnpike private brand, Parrish Tire handles Bridgestone, Firestone, Continental, General and Yokohama brands and is a master distributor for Kenda tires in Southeast.

In Canada:

Distribution Stox expanded twice in the past year via acquisition — Rimouski, Quebec-based Les Distributions Claude Côté and the wholesale business of Service de Pneus Lavoie Outaouais Inc. — shoring up its distribution footprint in both eastern and western Quebec.

The deals expanded Distribution Stox's distribution network to 22 warehouses with 1.7 million square feet of storage space.

The company also consolidated operations from five eastern Quebec warehouses into a 250,000-sq.-ft. distribution center it opened in June/July in Quebec City. The new D/C will have capacity for 450,000 tires once a final phase is completed in March 2022, or 125,000 more than possible in the smaller facilities.

Montreal-based wholesaler Groupe Touchette Inc. bought fellow Quebec tire dealership Pneus Chartrand Distribution Inc., which operates both wholesale and retail businesses throughout the province.

The acquisition includes two wholesale distribution centers, seven retail tire and auto service locations under the Pneus Chartrand Mécanique Inc. identity and a real estate company.

Groupe Touchette operates 30 distribution centers across Canada, from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, to Vancouver, British Columbia, distributing 20-plus tire brands.

In general, wholesalers surveyed by Tire Business for this special focus section were nearly unanimous in their concerns about business as 2022 unfolds: recruiting and/or retaining qualified personnel, securing sufficient supply to keep their customers supplied and coping with the rising cost of doing business.