Southern Tire Mart LLC has expanded its presence in California with the acquisition of Country Tire & Wheel and Tulare Firestone, plus a retread plant the two companies owned.
Country Tire & Wheel has four locations, including two in Bakersfield, Calif., one in Fresno, Calif., and one in Taft, Calif.
The dealership, which was founded in 1983, was owned by Tommy Castro and Randy Scholl, both of whom will work for Columbia, Miss.-based Southern Tire Mart, which is the largest commercial tire dealership in the U.S., according to MTD research.
Tulare Firestone, which was based in Tulare, Calif., and operated under the name TF Tire & Service, had nine locations, including a wholesale operation. It was owned by Lionel and Kevin Pires.
Lionel will retire and Kevin, his son, “is going to take a role in working with our agricultural (division) across our company,” according to Keven Haddox, who manages Southern Tire Mart’s business west of the Mississippi River.
The two dealerships jointly owned Eco-T Tire & Retreading, a Bandag retread operation that was established in 2015. (Eco-T also has a store.)
Country Tire “was more of a commercial dealership,” Haddox told MTD. “Tulare was an ag tire dealer that also did commercial and retail.”
Southern Tire Mart will “try to grow” Tulare’s wholesale business “as part of our wholesale operation,” said Haddox.
All Country Tire, Tulare Firestone and Eco-T locations are now operating under the Southern Tire Mart banner.
“We’ll be transitioning signage in the next couple of months. But if you show up (at those locations) today, your invoice will say ‘Southern Tire Mart.’”
Southern Tire Mart has more than 180 locations in total.
Its owners, Jim and Tommy Duff, were the recipients of MTD's Tire Dealer of the Year Award in 2021.
