AKRON, Ohio — Entries are now being accepted for the 2011 Tire Review Top Shop Awards presented by Ammco/Coats, which seeks to honor the “best of the best” independent tire dealers in the U.S. and Canada.

Now in its fifth year, the contest is officially open, and entries will be accepted until midnight on July 8.

Entry forms and information are now available online exclusively at the Top Shop Awards website at www.tirereview.com/topshop.

The Tire Review Top Shop Award contest spotlights independent tire dealers that epitomize the attributes and values stressed in every issue of Tire Review: exemplary customer service and retention, training and education, merchandising and promotion, professional standards and conduct, appearance, solid business management, community involvement, growth and achievement.

Outstanding examples are 2010 Top Shop Award winner Tires, Tires, Tires in Sioux Falls, S.D.; 2009 Top Shop winner Enger Auto Service & Tire in Cleveland, Ohio; 2008 winner Atlantic Tire & Service in Cary, N.C.; and 2007 Top Shop winner Gatto’s Tires & Auto Service, headquartered in Melbourne, Fla.

All of the winners and finalists are profiled on the Tire Review website and on a special Top Shop section of Tire Review’s Facebook page.

“Based on the response we get, tire dealers now recognize the Top Shop Awards as the premier honor for North American tire dealers,” said Jim Smith, editor of Tire Review magazine. “Dealers from across the continent tell us how much winning this award would mean to their businesses, and our past winners and finalists – to a person – have told us how excited and honored they are to participate in this program.”

The key element, Smith said, is that the tire dealers “appreciate the fact that the Top Shop Awards is for dealers of all sizes and types. It’s not about being the biggest or the best known. It’s about stressing all of the elements that make for a successful business.”

“We are extremely honored and excited to continue as the presenting sponsor for the 2011 Top Shop Awards,” said Kevin Keefe, vice president of marketing for Ammco/Coats, which has served as the presenting sponsor of the program since its inception. “The Top Shop Awards brings much deserved recognition to the many successful business people in our industry. The response from tire dealers to this award program has been tremendous, and that speaks volumes about how much dealers was to succeed to delivering for their customers.”

Dealers can nominate their own businesses, or others can nominate tire dealer businesses. The entry process is simple: Those making the nomination need to provide basic information about the dealership being nominated and write a short (300-word maximum) essay explaining why that dealership should be considered.

All entrants will be reviewed and a group of semi-finalists selected. Those semi-finalists will be asked to provide additional information for judging. A panel of judges, including industry professionals and a member of the Tire Review staff, will select the four finalists and, ultimately, the 2011 Top Shop Award winner.

The awards are as outstanding as the dealers selected:

• The Grand Prize Winner will receive a Coats ProGuard Leverless Tire Changer, $1,500 in cash, airfare and hotel for two (2 nights/3 days) to the 2011 Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show, a feature story in the October 2011 issue of Tire Review, and a Top Shop trophy to display in their dealership.

• Three Finalists will each receive a Coats 1250-3DV tire/wheel balancer (featuring on-board training), $500 in cash, a feature story in the October issue and a specially designed finalist trophy.

Serving the tire industry for 111 years, Tire Review is North America’s most respected and largest circulation tire industry publication. It is also the flagship magazine of Akron-based Babcox Media Inc. Tire Review, focused on assisting independent tire dealers improve their businesses, delivers a broad range of vital market intelligence to its more than 32,400 monthly readers.