Big O Tires, LLC Franchise Overview

About Big O Tires, LLC

The Big O Tires story begins back in 1962, just as America's new love affair with the automobile was hitting high gear. The market for replacement tires was exploding, and independent tire dealers found themselves struggling to compete in the face of low prices offered by major tire manufacturers' own company stores. 

Big O's founding fathers were a handful of progressive independent tire dealers who decided to band together to form a tire-buying cooperative, so they could secure volume pricing and keep their customers happy. Their concept worked. In the years that followed, the Big O Tires co-op evolved into a full-fledged franchise as it continued to find innovative ways to harness the power of the collective to benefit independent dealerships and their customers.

In 1996, Big O Tires became part of TBC Corporation, a marketer and distributor of tires and other products for the automotive replacement market. In 2005 TBC Corporation was acquired by Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sumitomo. In 2018, Michelin North America acquired a 50% interest in TBC Corporation through a joint venture with Sumitomo Corporation of Americas.