Kal Tire Buys 12 new Locations in Atlantic Canada
MONCTON — British Columbia-based tire retailer Kal Tire has acquired 12 GCR Tire locations throughout Atlantic Canada, bringing its brand to the east coast.
“It’s very significant for us as a company because it brings us closer to having a coast-to-coast business, which was always a goal of our founder, Tom Foord,” says Kal-Tire regional director Ron Pierce.
Foord, who passed away in 2012, built his empire from a service station in Vernon, BC, focusing on commercial tire uses, especially those in the mining industry. Commercial tires, along with a retail tire business that supports maintenance for wheel-adjacent vehicle components like brakes and alignment, will be Kal Tire’s focus.
“You notice what people really value as important to them. I used the analogy when I worked in Alberta – it was all about speed. They just wanted it done now, didn’t care what it cost. Then I went to Saskatchewan, it was the total opposite. [The customers would say] ‘Hey I can wait two weeks to save some money’.”
“The Maritimes on the other hand.. they seem to value good customer service, and are looking for good products. So it’s a good mix.”
The company acquired the shops last year but has just recently begun a rebranding campaign in March, after bringing the existing 81 staff on board and learning more about the market. In the coming months, new signage and other branding for Kal Tire will replace the GCR signage. The stores will continue to be Bridgestone/Firestone tire dealers.
The new employees have been brought into the Kal Tire fold over the past year, as they learn about the new company, and the company learns about the market from them.
“We started number one with the management teams because we believe that’s the foundation if you want to grow.”
He says Kal Tire brought all of the new managers to Ontario for a week to do store tours and in class sessions about the company culture. Then all team members went through several weeks of training to get them up to speed on how Kal Tire operates and the work safety protocols of the company.
“Now that we’re rebranded we’re able to offer some things like e-commerce that we weren’t able to offer before,” Pierce says, like booking services online.
The company has also acquired two retreading facilities in the region, one in Bridgewater, NS and one in St. John’s, NL.
“Seventy-five per cent of the tires you would see out there on large trucks, they’re probably retreaded. It saves a huge amount of oil in every single tire. Carbon black [used to stop electrostatic charging] is another big one and so is steel. Those three big pieces we are able to salvage,” Pierce explains.
He says the rubber is ground off and used for all sorts of things including rubber matting in playgrounds and on turf fields, potentially even in paving mixes for roads.
The new Kal Tire locations include Moncton, NB; Dartmouth, Truro, Antigonish, New Minas and Bridgewater, NS; Grand Falls-Windsor, Clarenville, Corner Brook, Wabush, Paradise and St. John’s, NL. There aren’t any locations in PEI.
Kal Tire owns and operates more than 260 stores across Canada.
Alex Graham is a Huddle reporter in Saint John. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].
