Monro Muffler Brake Inc. will retain the Autotire Car Care Center name in the St. Louis, Mo., market, Monro Chairman and CEO Robert Gross recently told www.moderntiredealer.com.
"It's a well-established brand with lots of equity," said Gross. "Our intention is to keep the brand," rather than convert the 26 Autotire stores Monro is in the process of buying from American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD) to Monro's Mr. Tire retail format.
Monro will pay $10 million to acquire the shops in a transaction that is expected to close by the end of the month.
Autotire "has the number three store density in the St. Louis market," according to Gross, "without us doing anything. Our intent is to grow that market, so we're starting off at number three. The stores are doing $1.2 million in sales per unit, which is a very attractive sales run rate that we hope to build on."
Autotire, which had been owned by Am-Pac Tire Distributors Inc., generated net sales of $31 million in 2008. (ATD acquired Am-Pac's operations in December 2008.) Monro currently has 154 tire outlets.
