The deadline for entries is fast approaching for the fifth annual Tire Review Top Shop Awards.
Entries are being accepted through July 8 for the 2011 Top Shop Awards presented by Ammco/Coats, which seeks to honor the "best of the best" independent tire dealers in the U.S. and Canada.
Entry forms and information are available online at the Top Shop Awards Web page at www.tirereview.com/topshop. Complete entries can be made right online.
The Tire Review Top Shop Award contest spotlights independent tire dealers that epitomize the attributes and values stressed in every issue of Tire Review: exemplary customer service and retention, training and education, merchandising and promotion, professional standards and conduct, appearance, solid business management, community involvement, growth and achievement.
Outstanding examples are 2010 Top Shop Award winner Tires, Tires, Tires in Sioux Falls, S.D., 2009 Top Shop winner Enger Auto Service & Tire in Cleveland, Ohio, 2008 winner Atlantic Tire & Service in Cary, N.C., and 2007 Top Shop winner Gatto’s Tires & Auto Service, headquartered in Melbourne, Fla.
All of the winners and finalists are profiled on the Tire Review website and on a special Top Shop section of Tire Review’s Facebook page.
Dealers can nominate their own businesses, or others can nominate tire dealer businesses. The entry process is simple: Those making the nomination need to provide basic information about the dealership being nominated and write a short (300-word maximum) essay explaining why that dealership should be considered.
All entrants will be reviewed and a group of semi-finalists selected. Those semi-finalists will be asked to provide additional information for judging. A panel of judges, including industry professionals and a member of the Tire Review staff, will select the four finalists and, ultimately, the 2011 Top Shop Award winner.
The awards are as outstanding as the dealers selected:
• The Grand Prize Winner will receive a Coats ProGuard Leverless Tire Changer, $1,500 in cash, airfare and hotel for two (2 nights/3 days) to the 2011 Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show, a feature story in the October 2011 issue of Tire Review, and a Top Shop trophy to display in their dealership.
• Three Finalists will each receive a Coats 1250-3DV tire/wheel balancer (featuring on-board training), $500 in cash, a feature story in the October issue and a specially designed finalist trophy.
