WalMart exiting the Tire Business??

[LS2JSTS]

Wal Mart has built three new stores in my general area over the last year or so. All three of them have the typical auto-oil sections, but none of them sell tires. And none of them has any garage services at all...no oil changes, nothing.

I never used their quicky oil services, or bought tires there. But it's odd these newer stores would remove that service from the market. One of the new stores was built directly across the street from the old one. The old store had tires and oil changes. Odd.

Any of you wally world guys have any info on this. Is Wal Mart getting out of that market?

 

[defektes]

I cant say that I have seen tires at my wal-mart but I could be wrong. They used to have them.

 

[Audi Junkie]

The have all the equipment.

 

[SLCraig]

My local Wal-Marts have tire/oil change centers still, and tires on display.

 

[DieselTech]

Wally's out here have tires but they really don't compete. Their prices are horrible

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: defektes
I cant say that I have seen tires at my wal-mart but I could be wrong. They used to have them.
They are Still there. Over priced and they will only install stock sized tires so if you want 31's on your Jeep your outa luck there.

 

[wannafbody]

I think it depends on the particular area. Some stores have no auto centers and another a few miles away might have a Tire and Lube cneter.

 

[jeepman]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: defektes
I cant say that I have seen tires at my wal-mart but I could be wrong. They used to have them.
They are Still there. Over priced and they will only install stock sized tires so if you want 31's on your Jeep your outa luck there.


Yea, I ran into that exact problem with them. The refused to put anything larger than stock on, due to some legality issues. I went elsewhere.

 

[Audi Junkie]

It's not a "legality" issue, it's a liability issue.

 

[mrfd222]

Quote: Loc: Motor City..What's Left

Maybe there are no cars there in motor city left. lol

 

[cos]

There is new Wally that opened up near me and they have no tires/garage services. I'm not sure why but as another poster said their tire prices are too high.

 

[ledslinger]

It might be as simple as the auto business not being as profitable per square foot as other parts of the store. It could also be that they have carefuly researched areas targeted for stores and know which ones have a saturated auto service providers.

If it were profitable they would deal with it, but I would think it would be a personell nightmare for them in the auto service department.

 

[daves87rs]

It's about profit. In our area there is not profit.


That being said-Yes, Wally will slowly pull out of the tire business. At this point it is more of a lawsuit issue, and they really don't want to deal with that any more.....

 

[D.K.]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
It's about profit. In our area there is not profit.


That being said-Yes, Wally will slowly pull out of the tire business. At this point it is more of a lawsuit issue, and they really don't want to deal with that any more.....



You realize of course that Walmart is the largest retailer of tires in the United States. They will not be exiting the tire business anytime soon.

Dave

 

[JHZR2]

Poor prices and lousy/slow service is what kept us from going there.

Costco Id consider, as Ive heard they have good prices, but in reality, any tire company will try to match tire rack prices.

 

[eljefino]

A store appeared across the street from an older one and the new one had TLE, old, not.

Oil changes are a great way to trap customers in the big box for half an hour and that's where the profit really is.

WM has good prices on tire SERVICES, eg mounting and balancing. They do quite well, I checked their torque, spot on. When one is in the store and sees list price on a tire, remember it's only $10 to mount, not 18-20 like most other shops. Though I agree the formerly cheapo douglas is now way too expensive for what you get.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: DieselTech
Wally's out here have tires but they really don't compete. Their prices are horrible


I'd vouch for that. In my size (P195/65R15), the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred is $150 at Walmart. Really? $150? Wow. Sam's has that same tire for about $120.

I've had my local Walmart INSTALL tires before, but I've never bought from them. The only competitive prices they have are on the Viva line, and those are historically pretty poor tires anyway (except maybe the new Viva Authority Fuel Max).

 

[mrsilv04]

I used to buy tires at Wal-Mart all of the time. Not so much anymore.

Of the last three sets of tires I've bought, one was from Sam's (which is Wal-Mart), one set from DTD, and one set from TR.

Of course, Wal-Mart got to mount the sets that came from DTD and TR... so they still ended up with a piece of the business.

I noticed that it appears that Wal-Mart is now pushing Bridgestone tires online. A new agreement possibly?

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: mrfd222
Quote: Loc: Motor City..What's Left

Maybe there are no cars there in motor city left. lol


There's none made in California anymore....

 

[kkreit01]

About the only thing I go to Wal-Mart for is flat repairs, and that's only when I carry them in. Their price = $10. GY = $25. NTB = $20. I don't trust them with my keys.