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Tire Stores Group Holding Corp history
Tire Stores Group Holding Corp company history timeline
In the winter of 1839, Charles Goodyear accidentally discovers that the addition of heat and sulphur alters the consistency of rubber, later to be known as the vulcanization process.
At first the process was hit and miss, but in 1841, Goodyear successfully applied the vulcanization process using heated cast iron.
He died insolvent in 1860, 38 years before Frank A. Seiberling founded Goodyear in Akron, Ohio, destined to be the world's first rubber concern to post $1 billion in sales.
Seiberling’s 1899 application to make carriage tires under Consolidated Tire Company’s patent was refused, so he started manufacturing a similar tire without a license, claiming it was monopolistic for Consolidated to grant patent licenses selectively.
Bicycle and carriage tires were the company’s major products until the start of automobile tire production in 1901.
The ensuing legal battle meant that Goodyear’s first- and second-year profits from the sale of carriage tires were held in escrow until the court decided, in Goodyear’s favor, in 1902.
Continental is one of Europe's oldest tire manufacturing companies, and the first tire company in the world to develop--in 1904--tires with treads.
Vinyl flooring introduced, supplementing Goodyear's line of rubber flooring dating back to 1905.
Seiberling followed David Hill to the presidency in 1906, with Paul W. Litchfield, George M. Stadelman, and Frank Seiberling’s brother Charles Seiberling composing the formative management team.
In 1909 Goodyear started production of airplane tires.
In 1910 Litchfield acquired a method for bonding rubber over fabric from North British Rubber Company in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Goodyear’s rubberized fabric, soon used for planes, including the Wright brothers’, also formed the shell of early dirigibles, the production of which commenced in 1910.
In 1913 some Goodyear workers joined 15,000 other rubber workers in a strike against Akron’s other rubber companies organized by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The strike was terminated after 48 days by worker vote, but it did mark the beginning of employee-initiated gains in Akron.
In 1915 The General Tire & Rubber Company was launched.
A very unlikely city, Akron, Ohio, was dubbed the "rubber capital of the world," and it was in Akron that the General Tire and Rubber Company was established in 1915.
In 1915 Litchfield donated an amount equal to his first 15 years' salary, about $100,000, to the factory workers to be used at their discretion.
In 1915 Litchfield donated an amount equal to his first 15 years’ salary, about $100,000, to the factory workers to be used at their discretion.
By 1916 Goodyear had grown to become the world's largest tire company.
Goodyear’s tire production rose from 250 per day in 1916 to nearly 4,000 per day by the end of World War I. The company made 1,000 balloons and 60 airships during the war, as well as 715,000 gas masks and some 4.75 million other military supply parts, such as tire valves.
Goodyear felt the squeeze as early as 1918, when it made its first attempt to recapitalize by a direct sale of stock to customers and employees.
In 1919 under Litchfield’s direction, Goodyear formed the industrial assembly, a representative body of 60 employees that voiced worker interests to management.
In 1920, nonetheless, the company accepted temporary refinancing of $18 million from a banking syndicate headed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. of New York and A.G. Becker of Chicago.
One month after his appointment, in June 1921, he had reduced debt from $66 million to $26.5 million. of 469 creditor claims in 1921, all but 7 were settled.
In early 1921 the New York law firm of Cravath, Henderson, Liffingwell & De Gersdorff connected Goodyear with an investment bank, Dillon, Read, & Co., that agreed to manage Goodyear’s refinancing and reorganization.
Canada Tire was started in 1922 by brothers John W. and Alfred Jackson (A.J.) Billes.
1922: Brothers John W. and Alfred Jackson (A. J.) Billes purchase Hamilton Tire and Garage Limited, an automobile service garage and auto parts depot in Toronto.
He spent his first year resolving litigation begun in 1922 by Goodyear common stock holders to increase their power and improve the position of common and preferred stock.
In 1923, only eight years after General Tire's establishment, it had earned its first million dollars in sales after taxes (forty years later, the company would achieve its first billion dollars in sales). Its product innovations continued apace.
In 1923 Stadelman moved into the presidency, Wilmer assumed the board chairmanship, and Litchfield moved into the first vice presidency.
In 1927, after four years of rising sales, the Billeses changed the name of their enterprise to Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited.
1927: The Billeses incorporate their enterprise as Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited; first mail-order catalog is published.
Goodyear patented its first synthetic rubber, Chemigum, in 1927.
By 1928 the company operated in 145 countries and sales reached $250 million.
Pneumatic tire production falls from more than 23 million units in 1929 to less than 18 million units due to Great Depression.
Among other firsts, Canadian Tire introduced the unconditional tire guarantee in 1931.
1931 Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd was established in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan.
In 1931 a tire plant was opened just outside Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Goodyear had established a six-hour work day in 1932 to lessen the effects of the Great Depression among workers, by reducing layoffs and distributing work as evenly as possible among remaining employees.
In 1934 the company opened an associate store in Hamilton, Ontario.
By 1934 the company's research and development specialists had experimented with a revolutionary new "drum method" for producing truck tires that dramatically slashed the cost of manufacturing them and at the same time accelerated the speed at which they were manufactured by 50 percent.
1934 Full-fledged tire production begins at newly-constructed Kurume Plant.
In 1934 the company introduced Pliolite, a compound that cemented rubber to metal, and Pliofilm, a packaging material.
The first international convention of the United Rubber Workers (URW) was held in September 1935.
1935 Full-fledged production of golf balls begins.
When national price controls were removed in 1935, however, Goodyear re-established the eight-hour work day to increase productivity, decrease its prices, and make its products more competitive.
In 1935 the company acquired a bankrupted company, Kelly-Springfield Tire.
Local 2, encouraged by the industrial assembly’s tenacity, appealed to the secretary of labor, who ruled in January 1936 that Goodyear was unjustified in its reversion to the eight-hour shift because it had voluntarily established a shorter day.
Goodyear returned to the six-hour day as suggested, but layoffs became necessary as tire sales decreased, and the union struck in February 1936.
Another plant was acquired in Akron in 1936, and a Vermont factory was purchased to centralize shoe sole-and-heel production.
Goodyear began producing 200,000 gas masks a month for the United States Army after Adolf Hitler’s April 1939 invasion of Poland.
In 1939 it came out for Goodyear, relieving any threat of future damage claims by dealers.
A Swedish plant was opened in 1939.
Sales increase 52 percent over 1940, reflecting Goodyear's participation in United States military defense program.
In 1941, after three years of cooperation, Goodyear signed its first formal contract with Local 2.
In 1941 Goodyear joined other manufacturers to produce parts for 100 B-26 bombers a month.
GAC also produced 4,008 Vought Corsair FG1 fighter planes, beginning in 1943.
Demobilization increased demand for consumer tires, and sales increased to 25 million in 1946–47.
GAC released almost 27,000 employees, reducing its payroll to 2,000 by 1946.
In its 50th year, 1948, Goodyear reached a peacetime sales record of $705 million.
In 1951 Goodyear became the first rubber company to exceed $1 billion in sales in one year.
Canadian Tire built a giant new warehouse that was averaging 57 tons of new inventory daily by 1952.
A subsidiary, Goodyear Atomic Corp., was founded in 1952 when the government selected the company to operate a $1.2 billion atomic plant under construction in Pike County, Ohio.
1953 Sales surpass 10 billion yen, as Bridgestone assumes position of industry leader in Japan.
The facility opened in 1954.
In 1954 Goodyear acquired its first new plantation in 20 years in Belem, Brazil.
Much of the increase was due to new rubber products such as foam rubber, film, and plastics, and growth was fueled by newly developing synthetic rubbers such as polyisoprene, introduced by Goodyear in 1955 and called Natsyn, for commercial purposes.
In 1955 it acquired two government-owned rubber factories it had operated during the war.
In 1955 at Goodyear’s Gadsden, Alabama, plant, an $11.5 million investment elevated it to the largest tire-making facility in the United States.
By 1956 even that facility had become too small to serve the company's 160-plus outlets, so Canadian Tire built a large new distribution center.
1956 The 25th anniversary ceremony was held in Kurume and the Ishibashi Cultural Center, a comprehensive park, was donated to the city.
In 1957 it also built a 7,200-acre tire testing site with 18.5 miles of multisurface roads.
In 1958 Thomas became chairman of the board, and Litchfield moved to honorary chairman.
The subsidiary received a $65 million contract in 1958 to produce Subroc, an antisubmarine missile.
De Young appointed Robert H. Lane as public relations director in 1958.
Production of foam-padded instrument panels begin for 1959 model cars.
In 1959 the company added a $3 million aeronautics research and development laboratory in Litchfield Park, Arizona, to supplement GAC’s activities.
In 1960 Goodyear built a $20 million synthetic rubber plant in Beaumont, Texas; its annual production of 40,000 tons of Natsyn equaled the annual generation of 15,000 acres of rubber trees.
1961 Bridgestone was listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges.
William O'Neil did not live to see the company reap its first billion dollar sales in 1963.
1964 Bridgestone develops Japan's first passenger vehicle radials.
1965 The Malaysia Plant, Bridgestone's first postwar overseas plant, begins operating.
In 1966, two years after Victor Holt assumed the presidency, Goodyear opened its tenth United States tire plant, in Danville, Virginia.
A.J. Foyt rides to victory at the Indianapolis 500, and Dennis Hulme wins the 1967 World Driving Championship, both on Goodyear tires.
In 1969 it became the first rubber company to exceed $3 million in annual sales.
1970 First Bridgestone Golf Tournament, now the Bridgestone Open, was held.
A second major distribution facility was built in 1973 to feed the growing Canadian Tire retail chain.
Custom Steelgard Radial tire introduced — the only steel-belted radial accepted by all United States carmakers for their 1973 models.
Goodyear's 75th anniversary year--1973--was marred by the debilitating Middle East oil crisis.
His professional accomplishments included investiture in 1976 as a Member of the Order of Canada, the highest recognition a civilian Canadian could achieve.
1976 Founder Shojiro Ishibashi passes away.
The radial tire equipped 45% of United States cars by 1976, and Goodyear was the world’s largest radial producer.
In 1977 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Goodyear of maintaining a clandestine fund of $1.5 million to make foreign and domestic political contributions and government and labor bribes.
In 1977, with a media blitz extolling its all-season tread, Goodyear introduced its Tiempo radial, the company’s most successful tire to that time.
Sales are $8.4 billion and earnings are up 57.8 percent over 1979 to $230.7 million.
Goodyear establishes record sales and earnings for 1980.
By 1980 despite national and global recession, Goodyear had record earnings of $264.8 million and had reduced debt to its lowest level in 17 years.
Then, in 1982, Canadian Tire reached outside its national borders when it purchased the assets of White Stores, Inc., of Wichita, Texas, for $144 million.
1983 Bridgestone acquires Firestone's Nashville Plant as its first US production plant.
In 1983 Pilliod retired, Mercer became chief executive officer, and Tom H. Barrett was voted president.
In 1983 its annual sales were $617 million, despite a questionable $50 million investment in the production of centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear power plants.
Having won the ten-year battle to remain leader of the tire market, Goodyear entered the 1980s planning to scale some other peaks. Its diversification goal was to reduce tire revenues to one-half of corporate earnings and generate the other half through its GAC subsidiary and Celeron Corp., a Louisiana oil and gas concern purchased in 1983.
Labich, Kenneth, "The King of Tires Is Discontented," Fortune, May 28, 1984.
The identity of the company had altered so drastically that by 1984, the shareholders agreed to change the name and transform the company into a holding company consisting of four major subsidiaries.
In 1984 his estate was awarded a $9.6 million settlement from Goodyear, one of the largest wrongful death payments in history.
1985: The White Stores venture flops and is divested.
He was replaced in 1986 by Dean Groussman, the former chief executive of White Stores.
He was also inducted into the Canadian Hardware/Houseware Hall of Fame in 1986.
Goodyear produces the first original equipment, 17-inch, Z-speed-rated performance tire, the Eagle ZR40 Gatorback, for the 1988 Chevrolet Corvette.
Barrett became chief executive officer in 1988 and remained president.
President Tom Barrett is elected to succeed Chairman Robert Mercer as chief executive officer, effective January 1, 1989.
A truce was reached in 1989 that put an end to various lawsuits, but it was not until Bachand came onboard that relations with the dealers began to be mended.
1989 Firestone announced plans to merge with Bridgestone United StatesA. Inc., to change its name to Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.
Canadian Tire had started its Auto Source experiment in 1990, when it opened two stores under the banner Car Care USA. Those stores, which mimicked the successful Pep Boys centers, incorporated 14 service bays and about 18,000 square feet of space for inventory.
1990 Bridgestone/Firestone Europe S.A. was established to supervise and administer all Bridgestone/Firestone subsidiaries in the European region.
Yet Goodyear remained committed to its annual research and development budget of more than $300 million a year, confident in this as a source of quality tires, such as 1990's Eagle GA and Eagle GT+4, successful luxury car models.
In 1991 the company announced its intent to enter the Indianapolis, Indiana, market with four new stores under the name Auto Source Inc.
In 1991, it decided to change the names of those stores and began construction on two new stores.
An American like Bachand, Sales had joined Canadian Tire in 1991, having previously worked in the United States for Kmart Corporation.
1991: Company reenters United States market with the establishment of the Auto Source chain.
In 1991 alone four new Goodyear tires for the replacement market were introduced, the flagship of which was the Aquatread, an all-season passenger tire specially designed to provide better traction on rain-slickened roads.
The venture lost CAD 15.3 million in 1992 alone.
Goodyear was also able by 1992 to reduce its long-term debt to a much healthier $1.47 billion.
More troubling was Gault’s 1992 decision to sell, once again, Goodyear-brand tires at Sears, more than half a century after it had stopped doing so.
1993 Businesses under the jurisdiction of Bridgestone's Sports Division transferred to Bridgestone Sports, with production and sales of sporting goods consolidated into the latter company.
In 1993 the company entered into a joint venture in India with Ceat Ltd. to form South Asia Tyres and build a $150 million tire plant in India.
1994: Multiyear store improvement program is launched.
All-time record sales for 1994 are $12.3 billion, with record income of $567 million.
Alan Ockene retired late in 1994, just after making two sad announcements: General had just registered another losing year, and the company's headquarters would be moved from its Akron home to Charlotte, North Carolina, near an existing tire manufacturing plant.
On April 3, 1995, company founder Alfred Jackson Billes passed away at the age of 93.
1995: Canadian Tire announces that it will shutter Auto Source.
1995 Firestone returns to Indy car racing and the Indianapolis 500® for the first time in 20 years.
In 1995 the company’s retail tire presence was beefed up through the purchase of 860 Penske Auto Centers and more than 300 Montgomery Ward-operated auto centers.
All of the United States stores were sold by 1996.
Better yet, the company achieved a two percent profit on sales of $1.4 billion in 1996.
Goodyear also appeared ready to divest itself of its noncore Celeron oil pipeline subsidiaries as it took a $572.2 million fourth-quarter 1996 charge, most of which was a write-down of Celeron assets in advance of a sell-off.
In 1997 Martha Billes bought out her brothers' stakes for CAD 45.4 million, boosting her holding to 61.2 percent.
In the spring of 1997 Goodyear had to endure its first strike in more than 20 years, when 12,500 United Steelworkers of America members went out on strike.
Importantly, Canadian Tire launched an aggressive renewal program that called for the enlargement of 240 of its 423 stores by 1998.
Goodyear announces withdrawal from Formula 1 racing after 1998 season.
The company expected to adopt an innovative new manufacturing system in 1998.
In early 1998 Goodyear finally offloaded its troubled and noncore Celeron unit and its All American Pipeline, selling the operations to Plains Resources for $420 million.
Investors abandoned the company's stock: shares ended the year at $23.81, down from the high of $76.75 recorded in 1998.
By 1999, when the number of completed outlets stood at 188, the program had been expanded: The firm now planned to convert 350 of its 430 stores to the new formats.
By 1999, under Bachand's leadership, revenue at Canadian Tire had reached CAD 4.73 billion, while profits had improved to CAD 145.9 million.
1999: The PartSource chain begins its official rollout.
By mid-1999 this process was complete, and the Kelly-Springfield offices were shut down.
In November 2000, meanwhile, Canadian Tire launched its web site, which already by year's end was one of Canada's top five online retail destinations.
Despite its problems the company continued to introduce innovative new tire products, including the Hydro 2000, a premium, all-weather tire designed to provide optimum performance on wet roads, and the Genseal tire, which self-sealed minor punctures.
The company barely eked out a profit in 2000 as it struggled under the weight of high raw materials costs, a strong dollar, a heavy debt load (largely attributable to the Sumitomo deal), and slowing orders from automakers.
My vision by the end of the year 2000 has Goodyear ranked by all measures as the best tire and rubber company in the world. (Samir F. Gibara, Goodyear chairman, chief executive officer, and president)
Goodyear responded in early 2001 with another restructuring plan, this one involving 7,200 job cuts and additional plant closings.
By 2002, 290 of Canadian Tire's 451 outlets featured one of the newer store formats.
2002: Clothing retailer Mark's Work Wearhouse Ltd. is acquired.
The crisis at Goodyear accelerated in 2002 as the company suffered a net loss of $1.11 billion (later restated to $1.25 billion), its largest annual loss ever.
Keegan added the chairmanship as well in July 2003.
The addition of Mark's helped boost overall Canadian Tire revenues to CAD 7.86 billion by 2003.
Not resting on its laurels, Canadian Tire began testing a new retail format in 2003 called Concept 20/20.
Goodyear patched relations with its dealers, and in February 2004 introduced a new line of tires, dubbed Assurance, which proved to be hot sellers.
In 2004 the company began testing Mark's Work Wearhouse "stores within a store" inside of select Canadian Tire outlets.
2004 Bridgestone (China) Investment Co.,Ltd, management of sales, manufacturing, research and development of tires established in China.
CEO Sales told analysts in early 2005 that the company was considering future acquisitions, building on its successful purchase of Mark's.
During 2005 Goodyear sold its Indonesia rubber plantations and its Wingtack adhesives resin business and reached an agreement to sell its farm tire operations to Titan International, Inc. for about $100 million.
The company later changed course, concluding it made more sense to keep the business, and at the beginning of 2005 the division was integrated into the North American Tire unit.
Goodyear returns to 24 Hours of LeMans for first time since 2006
2007 Bridgestone acquires Bandag, Inc., one of the world's leading tire retread businesses.
Company announces plans for an unprecedented number of new product launches in 2009, with more than 50 new tires being introduced globally.
2009 The Kitakyushu Plant begins its operation as the 10th tire plant in Japan.
Goodyear announces plans to begin production of 63-inch OTR tires in 2010.
Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperCar G:2 introduced with original equipment fitments on 2011 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
Goodyear Blimp makes first appearance in Europe since 2011
2011 To mark the 80th anniversary of the Bridgestone Group's founding, Bridgestone refined the Bridgestone symbol and its tagline is revised to "Your Journey, Our Passion."
Goodyear extends exclusive tire supply agreement with NASCAR through 2012, 50-year relationship with race series.
Nissan selects Dunlop tires for 2013 GT-R. Goodyear wins fitment on New Embraer military airlifter and tanker jet.
2013 Establishment of the Global Executive Committee (Global EXCO), which is the highest-level committee involved in the Bridgestone Group business execution.
Goodyear debuts online tire sales in United States Goodyear Eagle tires chosen exclusively for 2016 Chevrolet Camaro.
Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, Goodyear posts its highest first-quarter segment operating income ($226 million) since 2018.
2019 Bridgestone acquired Europe’s largest digital fleet solutions provider, TomTom Telematics (currently Webfleet Solutions).
"The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/goodyear-tire-rubber-company-0
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tire Town | - | $780,000 | 10 | - |
| Belle Tire | 1922 | $350.0M | 2,300 | 234 |
| Big Brand Tire & Service | - | $12.0M | 78 | 395 |
| Zolman Tire | 1978 | $1.7M | 16 | 27 |
| Quality Tire | 1956 | $620,000 | 7 | - |
| Commercial Tire Service | - | $8.6M | 35 | - |
| Raben Tire | 1952 | $213.3M | 200 | - |
| Don's Tire Service | - | $3.5M | 15 | - |
| Butler Tires and Wheels | 1959 | $470,000 | 10 | - |
| Superior Tire Service | 1963 | $680,000 | 100 | - |
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Tire Stores Group Holding Corp may also be known as or be related to Tire Stores Group Holding Corp and Tires Stores Group Holding Corp.