Straightaway Tire & Auto is owned by a private equity firm but is different than some other private equity-owned tire store networks, according to CEO John Teddy.
That’s by design, he says.
Straightaway Tire & Auto’s portfolio includes five dealerships: Victory Tire & Auto, based in Minneapolis, Minn.; EAS Tire & Auto, which is based in Denver, Colo.; All County Automotive, based in Palm Beach, Fla.; Auto Care Plus, headquartered in Derry, N.H.; and Village Automotive, based in Minneapolis.
All are wholly owned by Straightaway Tire & Auto, which is owned by O2 Investments, a private equity firm based in Bloomfield, Mich.
However, the owners of those five dealerships still run their former companies, which continue to operate under their old brand names and formats.
The fact that Straightaway Tire & Auto, which has grown to encompass 65 locations, isn’t as well-known as some other private equity-owned tire dealerships also is by design, says Teddy.
“Straightaway was formed in April 2023, so it’s very, very new. We were intentionally very quiet in our early stages. We have five founders who are part of our original group. They had met each other in the same 20-group and as they were exploring options, said, ‘Why don’t we go at it together and stick around, rather than selling off and moving into the sunset?’
“So we - through one transaction - brought five businesses together into one entity, Straightaway Tire & Auto, (which is) the holding company.”
The group’s members kept their original branding and business names, which was important to Straightaway Tire & Auto and 02 Investments, says Teddy, who adds that members also rolled some of their equity into Straightaway Tire & Auto.
All of the chains within Straightaway Tire & Auto’s network sell tires, he explains. Some sell more than others.
“We’re not doing the volume of the Discount Tires of the world. But every one of our brands carries tires. Most are at a pretty consistent level of the percentage of their overall business” that’s derived from tire sales.
“We’re a unique platform for founders of brands who are interested in preserving and growing what they’ve built. We’ve focused on helping grow their brands within the markets they serve. We’re a growth-minded partner, not an exit vehicle.
“The tire and auto service space is not simple,” says Teddy. “It’s a complex model. Having people on the ground with experience in this space and who can network with each other” is critical to success.
The founders and business leaders within Straightaway Tire & Auto’s network “talk to each other constantly. ‘How are you dealing with this problem? How does your P&L look versus my P&L?’ We’re just giving them the right resources,” which range from marketing and employee recruitment support to training.
“There are different phases of scale” and as dealerships expand, building out certain functions “can be daunting, especially if you’re personally financing all of it. If you haven’t seen bigger scale before, things can be challenging.
"We draw a fine line. We want our brand leaders to be our brand leaders. They run their businesses. But when they raise their hands and say, ‘I could use some marketing help or I could use some purchasing synergy,’ we want to have the resources to bring to bear for them.”
Teddy recognizes that “tires-first businesses are very different than auto service-first businesses. But we’re in the same kind of melting pot. I think the most attractive thing” about the tire dealership arena “is that it’s super-fragmented. There’s a ton of shops in the market. There’s a lot who are single-owner shops.”
Straightaway Tire & Auto has yet to expand beyond its initial five-brand scope. Adding more dealerships “is our intent in 2025,” he says. “We certainly have internal (store count) goals. But we don’t want to look like we’re just chasing unit count for unit count. We have a great partner in our private equity (owner.) We have a track record of growth, having started with 41 locations” and adding more than 20 stores since then.
"We’re ramping up our growth trajectory. We’re clearly signaling we have the appetite and desire to grow and accelerate our growth.”
