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60 Belle Tire Stores: Company Acquires 13 Closed NTB Locations from Sears

14 April 2000

60 Belle Tire Stores: Company Acquires 13 Closed NTB Locations from Sears; Opens New Store in Macomb Township

    ALLEN PARK, Mich., April 14 Belle Tire, the 80-year-old
tire giant, has recently purchased 13 closed NTB locations from Sears, which
will officially open on Monday, April 17, 2000.  The fourteenth is a brand new
store, built by Belle Tire in Macomb Township, which will also open the same
day.  Eleven stores will officially open on April 17 -- the other three will
open within 90 days.  This totals 60 stores in Michigan and Ohio for the tire
giant, one of the nation's 10 largest independent chains.
    New stores opening Monday, April 17 include:

    3501 Washtenaw, Ann Arbor
    51310 Gratiot Avenue, Chesterfield
    1211 Nowlin Road, Dearborn
    2352 Austins Parkway, Flint
    3773 28th Street, S. E., Grand Rapids
    3235 Plainfield, N. E., Grand Rapids
    6615 Pennsylvania, Lansing
    401 West 14 Mile, Madison Heights
    32699 Van Dyke, Warren
    28825 Telegraph Road, Southfield

    The new Belle Tire store is located at 15607 Hall Road, Macomb Township.

    Stores that will open within 90 days are:

    34410 Gratiot Avenue, Clinton Township
    15555 Eureka, Southgate
    39 North Telegraph Road, Waterford

    "All the newly acquired stores have been spruced up to Belle Tire
standards and we are very proud and excited about bringing our brand name into
new communities," said Belle Tire President Don Barnes, Jr.  "We are also
looking to open five new stores in the next year."
    Barnes said besides being a leader in the industry, Belle Tire believes in
investing in new stores, offering the latest high tech equipment and giving
employees the most advanced training resources available.
    Belle Tire, founded in 1922, is headquartered in Allen Park at I-94 and
Oakwood on Enterprise Drive.  The company currently employs over 1,000 people.
Belle Tire is actively involved in several charitable foundations and sports
sponsorships including Belle Tire Hockey Club junior hockey program,
Birmingham United Soccer Club, Care House along with the Detroit Tigers and
the March of Dimes in conjunction with The Detroit Red Wings, as well as other
charities associated with the Detroit Lions and the Detroit Pistons.