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TPMS: Chrysler Pacifica – 2022

Rubber Inc. opens warehouse

Rubber Inc. has opened a warehouse in Charlotte, N.C., to supply tire dealers in the southeastern U.S. The facility is Rubber Inc.’s fourth distribution center. Others are located in Chicago, Ill., the company’s hometown; Durand, Wis.; and St. Louis, Mo.

Maxam adds third warehouse

Maxam Tire North America has opened a new distribution center in Houston, Texas, that features 244,000 square feet of storage space. The facility is Maxam’s third warehouse in the U.S. The company’s other distribution centers are in Memphis, Tenn., and Los Angeles, Calif.

Challenger rolls on ET Street

Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels is supplying tires for what it calls “the world’s quickest, 0-60 production car.” The company is outfitting the new 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 with a modified version of its popular ET Street tire.

A win for Right to Repair

Maine’s Secretary of State’s office recently certified that the Maine Right to Repair coalition has gathered the necessary number of voter signatures – more than 70,000 — qualifying the initiative to be on the ballot in that state this November.

TIA seeks board nominees

The Tire Industry Association is seeking nominations for four board of director positions that will become open in November 2023. Nominations will remain open until May 8. Newly elected members will take their seats during the association’s annual membership meeting on Oct. 30, before the start of the 2023 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show.

Sun Auto adds store

Sun Auto Tire & Service Inc. has opened a new Driver’s Edge location in McKinney, Texas. This is the 18th Driver’s Edge store and a 19th location is expected to open in Garland, Texas, before the end of 2023.

CEAT wins fitments

CEAT Farmax radial ag tires have earned fitments on Case IH and New Holland tractors. The tiremaker participated in several rounds of assessments and plant audits, as well as multiple tire tests.

K&M Tire wants more market share in 2023

“Ifeel we do a good job where we’re at, but there’s always room to have more market share,” Cheryl Gossard, president of K&M Tire Inc., recently told MTD. K&M Tire’s customers can expect to see growth in several areas this year, she said. “We’re constantly looking at what we’re currently offering and ways to improve it. We have improvements coming for our online ordering system. We’re going to add features to it. And of course, we’re always looking at our warehouses.”

The Delphos, Ohio-based company — which boosted its revenue by 14% in 2022 — opened its 34th distribution center in January. “It seems like every year we’re moving one of them to a larger warehouse. We have a couple of those coming in 2023.”

K&M Tire has 80 outside salespeople “and 30% of their time is focused on (acquiring) new customers. We know there are still a lot of people within our existing footprint who aren’t customers and we want them as customers.”

According to Gossard, independently owned tire dealerships in small towns and rural areas “are more of our niche. Our customers in rural areas normally carry passenger and light truck tires and some carry commercial and ag (tires), as well. We can supply all of those.”

Gossard said it’s important to refine and add to the programs that K&M Tire offers. “We do it for our dealers. We want to continue to help them be successful. The money they get back goes right to the bottom line for them. The more we can add, the more it helps them — which keeps us in business, too.”

Like other tire distributors, K&M Tire grappled with inventory fluctuations last year. A year ago, Gossard said inventory levels were lower than what the company preferred. This past August, the situation began to reverse itself, she explained.

“Our PLT inventory is in a pretty good spot, but we have a lot of ag tires on-hand. For the last couple of years, it was hard to get them — with long lead times — so we had a lot on order and then everything just showed up at once. So right now, all of our warehouses are full.”

Spring planting season will help “move out” some ag tires, she said.

K&M Tire is keeping an eye on consolidation in the wholesale distribution channel. “A lot of our acquisitions over the years have been people reaching out to us because they like how K&M Tire does business. And that continues to happen.”

The company acquired Midtown Tire, a wholesaler in Rochester, N.Y., last May. “That’s been a great addition. We took over their business and were able to expand our footprint in New York. It was just too far away (for us) previously.”

As for the next opportunity, she said, “I think last year a lot of people had a really good year, so they’re not ready to sell. They want to hold on a little longer.”