The recent opening of Cassidy Tire & Service’s new store in Chicago, Ill., “was kind of like a homecoming,” Rick Ahern, one of the 111-year-old dealership’s owners, told MTD.
The 15,000-square-foot outlet, Cassidy Tire & Service’s 18th store, is located at 1950 West Carroll Street, just a few blocks north of Chicago’s United Center.
It replaces the dealership’s flagship location, which closed in 2021 and had been a fixture on nearby North Canal Street for more than half a century.
“With the closing of our Canal Street location, we temporarily lost a presence in a very vibrant part of the city, but knew we’d return once we found the right location,” said Ahern.
After the North Canal Street store’s closing, “customers called us every day, wanting to know when we were going to open a location here. Since we opened, I can’t tell you how many people have said, ‘What took you so long? We couldn’t wait to come back.’
“It’s good to see people coming in,” Ahern told MTD. “I have a gentleman who used to deal with my father 40 years ago at our old location. He’s here right now, getting new tires. So we get to see old friends and customers again.”
Storied history
Cassidy Tire & Service is one of the oldest family-owned and operated independent tire dealerships in the United States.
The dealership was founded in 1914 by William J. Cassidy. By 1968, ownership of the company had transferred to Hugh Ahern, William’s nephew, and was being managed by Hugh’s six sons.
As Cassidy Tire & Service’s business expanded, the Aherns saw an opportunity to move to a larger location on North Canal Street.
Over the decades, the Ahern family, led by brothers Tom Sr. and Frank Ahern, also opened locations in several Chicago suburbs, including Arlington Heights, Berwyn, Crystal Lake, Joliet, Lombard and others. (Prior to the opening of its new West Carroll Street location, Cassidy Tire & Service opened a store in Peru, Ill.)
And the Aherns continued to add stores inside “The Windy City.”
Room to grow
“We had been in our old building” on North Canal Street “for 50 or 60 years,” Ahern told MTD.
The structure was 100 years old and required “a lot of repair and upkeep. We started looking for a new location in 2016 and signed a lease” on Cassidy Tire & Service’s new West Carroll location around two years ago.
“It was a painstaking process, but 100% worth it.”
The new store sells consumer and commercial truck tires, as well as some small OTR tires for construction applications. It also offers light mechanical service.
“Right now, it only has six lifts, but there’s room for growth,” said Ahern, who shares ownership of Cassidy Tire & Service with several family members.
“We can add four more (lifts) on the one side of the shop. The other side of the shop is dedicated more for medium truck (service). We can pretty much do anything from small cars up to semi-trucks.”
The outlet employs eight people, but will need more employees to meet the high volume of work that’s coming through – a happy “problem” to have, according to Ahern.
“I don’t want to say we’re struggling to keep up with the work ... but we’re definitely looking to expand our workforce. We had a staff here for almost a month ahead” of the store’s grand opening, which was attended by members of the Ahern clan, friends of the family, local politicians, customers, neighborhood residents and Cassidy Tire & Service employees.
“Within an hour” of the store’s opening, customers were contacting the dealership to make appointments, Ahern told MTD.
Spirit of independence
Chicago is still an independent tire dealer’s market, according to Ahern. “There are still a lot around. Some have sold, but there are still a lot of family-owned businesses that we compete against and are also friendly with.
“It’s independent, family-owned businesses that people want to support,” he said. “We put a big emphasis on the customer experience and making sure our customers are 100%-satisfied.”
