Big O Tires, LLC. is North America's largest franchiser of tire retailers. It is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, and has more than 540 franchises in 21 U.S. states and Canada. It sells its own Big O private brand tires and other brands. In addition to selling and servicing tires, wheels, and alignments, Big O Tires provides basic maintenance and replacement services such as oil changes, battery replacement, struts installation, and brake service. Because Big O Tires is a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation, its franchisees are located in markets that not served by the TBC-owned Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire chains.

[edit] History

The company was founded in 1962, when it split from OK Tires. In 1996, it was acquired by TBC Corporation, which also owns Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire.^[1] In 2006, TBC was acquired by Sumitomo Corporation of America^[2]. Big O Tires remains a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation.

In a landmark case in 1977, Big O Tires was awarded $19.6 million from Goodyear over Goodyear's use of the name "bigfoot" tires. The amount equaled 25% of Goodyear's advertising budget in the states where Big O operated. The amount was reduced on appeal and the case was later settled.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ "TBC to Buy Outstanding Shares of Big O Tires" The New York Times. 1996-05-03. URL retrieved 2006-12-02
2. ^ "Sumitomo Corporation of America Completes Acquisition of TBC Corporation". Business Wire. 2005-11-17. URL retrieved 2006-12-02.
3. ^ Doan, Amy. "Xbox Name May Cost Microsoft". Forbes. 2001-02-05. URL last retrieved 2006-12-02.

[edit] External links

• Company website