Plaza Tire Service has opened its fourth store in Columbia, Mo. The family-owned company, based in Cape Girardeau, Mo., is celebrating 52 years in business in 2015.
“We’re excited to be opening this new location in the Columbia market,” says Mark Rhodes, president of Plaza Tire Service. “As we were considering where to place our next location, the thriving community of Columbia was an obvious choice. The people here have welcomed us, and we look forward to serving their automotive needs.”
The new store, located at 1415 Grindstone Plaza Drive brings the company to a total of seven Mid-Missouri stores. Like all Plaza Tire Service locations, the Grindstone Plaza location operates six days a week. Weekday hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and the store is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays. To reach the store by phone, dial (573) 397-4787.
The new Columbia location occupies approximately 8,650 square feet and consists of a showroom and eight service bays. The showroom houses a customer waiting area as well as products from major tire brands including Bridgestone, Yokohama, Firestone, Michelin, BFGoodrich, Pirelli, Falken, Nokian and Dick Cepek off-road tires plus custom wheels.
The service bays are equipped with the industry’s highest quality machinery to handle services including tire installations and repairs, brakes, shock and strut replacements, oil changes, alignments, battery replacements and more. State-of-the-art alignment and computer wheel balancing services are available, and the location is equipped to perform fluid flushes for transmissions, power steering systems, coolant systems and brake systems. Plaza Tire Service says it works to meet customer requests within one hour.
In addition to its four Columbia locations, Plaza Tire Service also operates stores in these mid-Missouri cities: Jefferson City, Mexico and Fulton. Plaza Tire Service has 56 stores spread throughout metro St. Louis, southeast and mid-Missouri, as well as southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northeast Arkansas.
Plaza Tire Service was established in 1963 by Vernon “Pee Wee” Rhodes. Its first location opened in Cape Girardeau as Plaza Car Wash, a hand-operated car wash. The company gradually expanded to provide tire services in addition to washing cars. Eventually, the company began selling and changing tires along the sidewalk outside the carwash.
Local regulations ended this practice, and the company chose to exclusively provide tire and automotive services going forward. The car wash was renovated over one weekend, Plaza Car Wash was renamed Plaza Tire Service, and the company has been in business for 52 years.
Plaza Tire Service is tied for 16th on the 2014 MTD 100 list.
For more information, visit www.PlazaTireService.com.
