Mark Welden, principal owner of Greer Tire in Milwaukee, Wis., has become a stockholder in Del-Nat Tire Corp.

Welden is the 81st stockholder in Memphis, Tenn.-based Del-Nat, a distributor of automobile, agricultural and commercial truck tires and tubes that operates as a cooperative with a network of dealers and distributors.

Greer Tire was founded in 1983 when Pat Greer began selling tires out of the basement of his home; he eventually grew the shop to an 11,500-square-foot warehouse. Welden, a longtime friend, bought the company from Greer when he retired in 2010. The warehouse has since expanded to its current 20,000 square feet. About 90% of Greer Tire’s business is wholesale.

“I see exceptional value in the Del-Nat program,” Welden said. “It provides us with a different price point and its catalog of brands and products will allow Greer Tire to enter additional markets that our company does not currently service. We believe we can utilize Del-Nat’s Direct Distributor Program to gain additional exposure in Wisconsin and the western half of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”

Del-Nat Tire, with annual sales of more than $200 million, offers each stockholder protected territories under one or more of the Del-Nat brand names: Delta and National passenger, light-truck and SUV tires; Chaparral light truck lines; and Akuret commercial tires for farm, OTR, truck and trailer applications.

“The continued growth of our stockholder base coupled with a very solid financial picture have given Del-Nat strong momentum going into the second half of the calendar year,” said Randy Gaetz, vice president of sales and marketing at Del-Nat. “We are seeing that more and more dealers are looking to join Del-Nat in order to maintain their independence. Del-Nat is committed to keeping the independent tire dealer independent.”