Tirestarz Dealers Tout Success Of Bridgestone/Firestone's Program
78 New Dealers Join Program In June/July

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 15, 2002) – When it comes to selling tires, Susan Stapleton at Wedgewood Tire in Ft. Worth, Texas, knows what she is talking about. Stapleton has spent most of her life around the tire business because her father was a tire dealer. Now she and her brother have taken over the business. Stapleton credits her vast knowledge about current products and industry trends to Bridgestone/Firestone's TireStarz program.

Stapleton is not alone in touting the success of this dealer program. In June and July alone, Bridgestone/Firestone signed 78 new participants. Dealers continue to join the Bridgestone/Firestone family because TireStarz helps them sell more products and improves their bottom line.

"I joined the program about four years ago and have really benefited from the TireStarz program," said Stapleton. "The materials are very helpful and educational. There is always someone eager to help or to answer my questions whether it is Gray's Tire (distributor) or my sales representative. The Drive and Learn events also give me the opportunity to speak from experience about how a tire performs or out performs the competition."

Victor Quick, of Quick Tire in Cullman, Ala., just celebrated the grand opening of his new TireStarz location. The family business has actually been in operation for over 15 years, but joining the TireStarz program gave Quick Tire the opportunity to remodel and, consequently, launch a brand new look and feel for their store.

During the 3-day grand opening celebration, Quick sold over 200 tires and more than 200 customers signed up for the TireStarz credit card program.

"I was really impressed by my area sales manager, Jim Cox, and his willingness to work with us during the grand opening," said Victor Quick, president of Quick Tire in Cullman, Ala. "We were with a competitor's program before," he added, "they talked support, but it was never there."

"The new tire wall display modules, which we have from the TireStarz program, make it easy to change the look and feel of the store. Many customers have commented on how good the store looks. Now, we certainly have a more attractive and professional appearance.

"I have always liked the Bridgestone/Firestone products, especially the Bridgestone Dueler which sells well because of the popularity of light trucks in our area," Quick added. "Joining TireStarz has really been great for us and our distributor, American Tire, has been very responsive. Last month we had our biggest sales volume in the history of the store."

"Dealers are making a logical choice to be part of the bigger picture," said Bill Pace, manager, TireStarz USA, Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC. "The goal of TireStarz is to help independent retailers sell more tires. We continue to talk to dealers about the TireStarz advantage. Our growth this summer underscores our belief in the educational benefit of the program. TireStarz members become better oriented to the business of selling tires through us. They receive an education about the products and an understanding about the consumer -- and as an added bonus -- they are charged no monthly fee."

TireStarz is a retail “sell-out” program, designed to help the independent tire retailer sell more tires, to increase profits and to “survive” in today’s competitive environment.

As a member of the Bridgestone/Firestone “family channel,” TireStarz dealers have access to the latest product offerings from Bridgestone/Firestone as well as the many support programs for the other "family channel" members including more than 2200 company-owned stores. The TireStarz program began in September 1997 with one distributor. Now, 35 distributors serve more than 660 TireStarz locations.

Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC is a subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BFNT develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and associate and private brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, agriculture and other tires to its customers in the Americas.