Brant Wilson, president and chief operating officer of TBC’s Franchise Group, said TBC’s support of its franchise entities provides “unique opportunities, such as this one, where we can share a new business venture with franchisees that they may not otherwise have access to if they were not affiliated with the organization.”
The deal expands the Big O Tires franchise network to 455 independently owned and operated locations in 25 states. Texas is now the fifth state where TBC has both company-owned retail stores and Big O franchised dealers.
TBC’s other major franchise brand, Midas International, reports having 60 Midas locations in Texas, including a dozen in the San Antonio area.
“As an organization with more than 3,200 retail locations, both company-owned and franchise, it’s imperative that we consider our entire portfolio when evaluating opportunities,” TBC President and CEO Erik Olsen said.
“We will now have the opportunity to serve consumers in the state of Texas through three retail great brands — Big O Tires, Midas and NTB — at nearly 170 locations.”
This is the second major shift in branding by TBC in the past year or so. In November 2017 the company ceded control of 44 company-owned NTB locations in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Missouri to Western Automotive Ventures Inc., an enterprise owned by Big O Tires franchisee Mark Rhee, who also owns and operates 11 Big O Tires locations in Nevada.
