NEW BUSINESS ON THE STREET: NEW TIRE SERVICE OPERATIONS

Plaza Tire Service, headquartered in Cape Girardeau, has opened new stores at Searcy, Ark., and Fredericktown, Mo. The firm has 24 facilities in four states.

The Searcy site is the third operation in Arkansas. Other Plaza Tire stores are at Paragould and Pocahontas.

Nathan Stone, former manager of Wholesale Tire Distributions, will manage the Searcy store.

Lindell Wood is manager of the new Fredericktown store.

Two more stores are expected to open next summer. Construction is under way at Perryville, with a tentative opening date of June 16. The company plans to open a Farmington site in late August.

Plaza Tire offers full lines of Dayton, Centennial, Bridgestone, Firestone, Continental and Michelin tires, an auto service department that provides brakes, shocks, batteries, oil changes and wheel alignment.

Plaza Tire Service was founded as Plaza Car Wash in 1963 by Vernon "PeeWee" Rhodes. The business became a full-service distribution and retailer a few years later, and today operates a 12-bay service center, 50,000-square-foot warehouse and an 8,000-square-foot operations center at the original car-wash site.