GCR Tire Centers, a Texas-based commercial tire supplier that provides tires and tire services to truckers, farmers, construction firms, mining companies and the forestry industry, is celebrating its own long haul – the company’s 60th anniversary.

What started out in 1945 as one small store in Texas has grown into a network of commercial tire and service providers spanning the United States and Canada. Today, GCR Tire Centers has nearly 200 store locations, 28 retread shops and a specialty wheel manufacturing company, Southern Wheel and Rim. The company employs more than 2,500, and has more than 1,000 technical service employees focusing on customer needs such as on-site service repairs and 24-hour roadside assistance.
In 1945, Balie Griffith opened what was to become the first of the GCR tire stores in Odessa, Texas. His son, Balie Griffith, Jr. and two other experienced tire dealers, Harold Crawford and Perry Rose, later joined their businesses in Abilene and Austin, Texas, to form the corporation that took its name from theirs, GCR Group Inc.
Acquired by Bridgestone/Firestone in 1987, the group was renamed GCR Truck Tire Centers and is now GCR Tire Centers, which more closely recognizes the diverse tire business that GCR serves.
The company has been honored with numerous awards, among them being ranked No. 1 by J.D. Power & Associates in the 2004 Canadian Customer Commitment Study in the category of “Highest Overall Customer Satisfaction Among Service Providers,” and being the recipient of Vulcan Materials Co.’s Gold Service Award in both 2004 and 2005, signifying outstanding performance as a supplier.