Belle Tire is an American

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

and automotive service retailer headquartered in

Allen Park, Michigan Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638. Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limit ...

. It was founded in 1922, after its first location was opened in Detroit, Michigan, by Sam Waze. It currently operates 130+ locations in Michigan,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and Illinois.

History

In the 1960s, Don Barnes Sr., a Kelly Tire salesman who had been a supplier to Belle Tire, partnered with Waze. The partnership proved to be successful, with the company opening several other locations in the Metro Detroit area. In the 1980s, the Barnes family bought Waze's remaining shares and continued expansion of the business through acquisitions of American Tire, Capital Tire, Delta Tire, and Great Lakes Tire. The company grew significantly in the 1990s via the acquisition of the Tireman and Metro 25 chains in the 1990s, and Sears' NTB locations in Michigan in the early 2000s. Since the mid-2000s Belle Tire has continued its expansion throughout Michigan, building new stores in the Metro Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Lansing areas. In 2013, the company launched an initiative to redesign its retail stores to make them more customer-friendly. In 2015, the company expanded its retail footprint to Indiana with four locations: Mishawaka, Elkhart, and two in South Bend. This expansion marked an important moment in the company's more than 90-year history in the tire business. It was the company's first move into new territory since expanding from Michigan to northern Ohio more than 30 years ago. In 2015, Don Barnes III was named president.

References

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External links

Official website

Crain's List Private 200
American companies established in 1922 Retail companies established in 1922 Companies based in Wayne County, Michigan Automotive part retailers of the United States Privately held companies based in Michigan