Big O Tires, one of North America’s largest retail tire franchisors has announced the expansion of the brand into the state of Texas by its franchisee, Chris Monteverde. The brand now has more than 455 independently owned and operated locations in 25 states. Monteverde, an existing franchisee of the Big O Tires brand with 19 locations in California, now owns and operates 27 locations in two states.

“Chris is an exceptional operator; he and his team live the values of the Big O Tires brand each and every day and we’re fortunate to have them representing the team,” said John Kairys, vice president and general manager of Big O Tires. “We are excited about the expansion and the opportunity to serve the customers in the San Antonio and Corpus Christi markets while living up to our ultimate goal to be the team you trust.”

The locations were formerly NTB Tire & Service Center (NTB) locations and will be converted to Big O Tires over the next few months.

“As an organization with more than 3,200 retail locations, both company-owned and franchise, it’s imperative that we consider our entire portfolio when evaluating opportunities,” said Erik Olsen, president and CEO, TBC Corp. “We will now have the opportunity to serve consumers in the state of Texas through three retail great brands – Big O Tires, Midas and NTB – at nearly 170 locations.”

“As a group, the franchise organization is fortunate to have the breadth and depth of support from our parent company, TBC,” added Brant Wilson, president and chief operating officer of the Franchise Group for TBC Corp. “It provides us with unique opportunities, such as this one, where we can share a new business venture with franchisees that they may not otherwise have access to if they were not affiliated with the organization.”

At the end of 2017, TBC expanded the Big O Tires brand when it franchised more than 40 company-owned NTB locations in Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri to Western Automotive Ventures Inc. Western Automotive Ventures Inc.’s affiliate, Western Automotive Group LLC also owns and operates 11 Big O Tires locations in Nevada.

“The opportunity to expand our portfolio within the Big O brand and have a chance to do business in the great state of Texas was one that we didn’t think twice about,” said Monteverde. “We’re excited about the future and eager to continue exceeding customer expectations in California as we make a name for ourselves in Texas.”