VIP Tires & Service is expanding its geographic footprint and opening its first store in Vermont. The company is acquiring an existing store located at 300 Essex Road in Williston, Vermont. It will be VIP’s 58thstore in Northern New England. Currently, VIP has 19 locations in New Hampshire, 3 locations in Massachusetts and 35 locations in Maine.
“Expanding to Vermont and opening a store in the Greater Burlington area has been in our strategic plan for a while,” said Tim Winkeler, President and Chief Operating Officer, VIP Tires & Service. “We knew this was the right location for VIP because it is a large population center that is close to our primary auto parts provider and the company that warehouses our tires, making servicing our customers easier and efficient.”
The deal on the 9,000-sq.-ft., eight service bay location was finalized last week, and VIP will begin operations today. The company plans to renovate its new location in the spring of 2019. The hours of operation will remain the same as the previous service center: Monday-Friday 7:30am-8:00pm, Saturday 7:30am-7:00pm and Sunday 9:00am-6:00pm.
"VIP has several stores along the New Hampshire northern border and we are very excited to open our first store in Vermont," said John Quirk, owner of VIP, a 93-year-old, family-owned business, and Chairman of the Board.
The eight employees at the location have been hired by VIP Tires & Service. Nick Sirois will continue in his role as store manager. VIP plans to add at least one Master ASE Technician to the existing team, providing customers the ability to have all their automotive work done at one location.
All VIP Tire & Service locations, including the new Williston location, offer full-service automotive repair, maintenance and tire shop offering everything from brake repair, preventative maintenance, muffler and exhaust repair, multi-point vehicle inspections, wheel alignments, state inspections and oil changes.
“At VIP, our mission is to earn an automotive customer for life,” said Quirk, “We do that by having highly trained technicians who enjoy helping people … Many people think our business is a transactional business, but it’s not, it’s about relationships.”
In August 2018, VIP Tires & Service opened a new store in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. According to Winkeler, “We plan to continue to grow our store footprint each year, either through acquisition or by building new stores from the ground-up so that we can make it as easy as possible for Northern New Englanders to turn to VIP for the most reliable tire and automotive services.”
About VIP Tires & Service
VIP Tires & Service, a Quirk family-owned business for 93 years based in Auburn, Maine, operates 58 locations throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts providing retail and wholesale tires and installation, and professional automotive services. VIP is the place where New Englanders turn for everything they need to keep their vehicles running at peak performance. For more information, visit: www.vipauto.com.
