Tire Discounters announced expansion into new markets this week with the addition of family-owned Bulldog Tire and Lightning Auto Glass – both located in greater Atlanta – and Tire Outfitters in Winchester, Virginia. The company also opened a new store in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
According to Jamie Ward, president and CEO of Tire Discounters, Tire Discounters is in the unique position to help family-owned operators like Bulldog Tire, Lightning Auto Glass and Tire Outfitters grow their businesses. The company specializes in bringing employee support, nationally recognized expertise, and business infrastructure to partnerships with great family-owned operators that have poured their hearts and souls into their businesses, the company said.
These recent developments contribute to the company’s potential of opening 60 locations in 2022 through acquisitions and organic growth, which would bring the total number of Tire Discounters stores in the U.S. to over 200 locations.
The company said the greater Atlanta acquisitions are a purposeful move. In December of 2020, Tire Discounters added Porterfield Tires’ two retail stores and a commercial outlet and warehouse—which holds a distribution center and has accelerated the company’s expansion in southern states—to the company’s roster. Tire Discounters anticipates adding 30 greater Atlanta locations in 2022, the company said.
With Bulldog Tire’s acquisition, Tire Discounters adds store locations in suburban Atlanta: Covington, Monroe and Snellville. Bulldog Tire stores are full-service operations with a focus on new tires, tire services and auto repair services. Tire Discounters has also acquired Bulldog Tires’ wholesale store, located in Monroe, which will serve as another distribution warehouse for Tire Discounters—the company’s fourth distribution warehouse overall.
Founded in 1973, the company is a natural addition under the Tire Discounters umbrella because of its commitment to the same family values held by the Cincinnati-based company, as well as its dedication to serving its local communities, according to Tire Discounters.
Tire Discounters has also added an auto glass company to its roster, Lightning Auto Glass in Chamblee, Georgia. A leader in the auto glass industry, the addition doubles Tire Discounters’ auto glass repair and installation business. Tire Discounters currently has a mobile glass and ADAS fleet in its northern markets and a glass store in its hometown of Cincinnati. In mid-November, a mobile glass and ADAS fleet will be rolled out in Tennessee.
Finally, Tire Discounters added a new retail location after renovating a former Tires Plus store in Lawrenceville, Ga., an Atlanta suburb. The store joins Tire Discounters locations in Oglethorpe, Dalton, Watkinsville and Athens, Ga.
According to Ward, the company is growing quickly and adding stores in areas that don’t currently have access to a Tire Discounters location, noting that the company’s success is tied directly to how it treats customers.
The acquisition of Tire Outfitters is the first location for Tire Discounters in Virginia, the company said.
