Nearly 40 years after Chip Wood opened the first Tire Discounters store in a single-bay shop in Ohio, the Cincinnati-based tire retailer this week will debut its first outlet in Chattanooga – the southern-most market for the growing chain of nearly 100 stores.
Tire Discounters plans to open an 8,000-square-foot store on Highway 153 in Hixson on Wednesday. The new $1.7 million store is the first of what company officials expect will ultimately be nine stores in the Chattanooga region. Within the next couple of months, Tire Discounters will open other stores in Fort Oglethorpe and East Brainerd and company real estate experts are looking at other store sites in high traffic volume areas in and around Chattanooga.
“We’re absolutely in love with Chattanooga,” Jamie Ward, executive vice president for Tire Discounters, said last week. “Ideally, in the next 12 months, we’d like to have another six locations beyond those we are already building, which would make about nine total stores in the market.”
Wood, who still owns the company he started, bought a vacation home on Chickamauga Lake and has been interested in expanding into Chattanooga for years. Last year, Tire Discounters expanded into Tennessee with stores in Nashville and is now up to nine locations in Middle Tennessee.
“Based on the great success we have had in Nashville over the past year and the growth in Chattanooga, we think this will be a strong market for us,” Tire Discounters CEO Paul Brunner said. Ward said Tire Discounters may not always be the lowest price option, “but we are committed to giving the best overall value.” The company is unique in offering free alignments, along with a lifetime rotation and balancing of any tires, on any tire purchase.