Major tire and auto repair chain closes 145 struggling stores | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

The automobile tires and wheels aftermarket has faced significant headwinds over the last year, resulting in companies closing store locations, filing for bankruptcy to reorganize their operations, and sometimes selling their business.

Companies facing economic difficulties have cited lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, a decline in consumer demand, supply chain disruption, and increased operating costs driven by inflation as the reasons for taking action to improve their financial situation.

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Wheel Pros, which operates as auto parts distributor and retailer Hoonigan, filed for a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 9, 2024, that would eliminate $1.2 billion in debt and provide about $570 million in new capital through an exit facility, according to a company statement.

After Covid, high interest rates and inflation resulted in weaker consumer demand, the debtor expected the demand to return by late 2023, but inflation and high interest rates continued to depress demand.

The debtor was founded in 1994 as Wheel Pros and now operates as Hooningan to design, market, sell, and distribute aftermarket automotive wheels, performance tires, and related accessories to over 30,000 retailers, warehouse distributors, and specialty builders through a global network of over 42 distribution centers.

Tire and auto repair businesses face distress

Accuride Corp, a leading manufacturer of wheels and wheel end products for commercial trucks and trailers, on Oct. 9, 2024, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection seeking a consensual restructuring of its debt to continue operating as a going concern.

Accuride and 15 affiliates filed their petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware after facing significant headwinds from the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the debtor’s business, operational difficulties, business integration challenges, inflation, supply chain disruption, and other geopolitical and macroeconomic forces that depressed revenue and increased costs.

Giant tire and wheel replacement company American Tire Distributors on Oct. 22, 2024, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, seeking a sale of its assets, burdened with over $1.9 billion in funded debt.

The debtor blamed soaring inflation after the Covid-19 pandemic and a decline in demand for auto products beginning in 2022 for its financial distress, following a tire boom in 2019-2021.

The tire boom prompted the company to expand its business, but profits began declining in 2022 and 2023 because of new market headwinds that included customers adjusting to less expensive tires, depression of consumer demand, increased operating costs, and a contraction of sales channels.

Some companies with no plans to file for bankruptcy are taking proactive steps to improve their business performance to avoid severe problems in the future.

Monro auto repair, maintenance, and tire services will close 145 locations.

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Monro closes 145 locations

Major tire services and auto repair chain Monro Inc. will close 145 underperforming stores as part of its company improvement plan, after reporting a 4.9% decrease in sales in the 2025 fiscal year ended March 29, 2025.

Following a detailed assessment of Monro’s business, the company identified four key areas to focus on improvement, including closing 145 stores, improving customer experience and selling effectiveness, driving profitable customer acquisition and activation, and increasing merchandise productivity, including mitigating tariff risk, CEO Peter Fitzsimmons revealed in a May 28 statement.

“As I reflect on my first eight weeks, I’m pleased with our detailed assessment of the business. We have identified four key areas of focus as opportunities for improvement,” Fitzsimmons said.

More closings:

“While our improvement plan will take time to implement, I believe that we will drive enhanced profitability and increase operating income and total shareholder returns in fiscal 2026,” he said.

Monro was set to begin closing the 145 underperforming stores in the first quarter of 2026, which began March 30, 2025.

The improvement plan is expected to enhance operations, profitability, operating income, and total shareholder returns for the company, though it expects the store closings to result in a reduction of annual sales by about $45 million in fiscal year 2026, according to its earnings call.

Monro’s fourth quarter 2025 sales declined 4.9% to $295 million, compared to $310 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, ended March 30, 2024.

The company closed three stores in the fourth quarter of 2025, ending the quarter with 1,260 company-operated stores and 48 franchised locations.