What started as a 50-50 partnership with Royal Tire has become a 100% ownership for Fountain Tire Ltd. The acquisition will give Fountain Tire 171 outlets in central and western Canada.
The eight Royal Tire locations in northern Ontario have been purchased outright and will be rebranded by Fountain Tire. The conversion affects Royal Tire’s consumer and commercial tire locations in Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, Marathon, Huntsville, New Liskeard and Wawa.
Fountain Tire entered into its 50-50 partnership with Royal Tire in July 2012. Since its founding in 1983, Royal Tire’s associates have served the tire and automotive service needs of consumers and commercial tire accounts in the trucking, logging and mining sectors.
“The expansion of our brand and business model into northern Ontario is a tremendous opportunity for growth and shared learning,” says Nelson Tonn, Fountain Tire’s vice president of marketing. “The collaborative partnership we have forged with Royal Tire associates is a perfect fit in terms of our shared values of local ownership and concern for the well-being and success of our customers, associates and communities.”
The conversion to the Fountain Tire banner is expected to be fully completed by the end of January, 2014. The new outlets also will transition into Fountain Tire’s shared ownership structure, in which store managers who demonstrate superior service are offered a 50% stake in their operation.
Managers who own equity in their location "are more highly motivated to surpass customer expectations,” says Phil Shaw, Fountain Tire's director of operations. “This entrepreneurial approach is good news for customers in that it allows us to attract the best and brightest people and create the conditions in which customer experience can flourish.”