Plaza Tire gets winning bid on former Dana Corp. building

Plaza Tire Service Inc. submitted the winning bid to purchase the industrial building that formerly housed the Dana Corp. production facility in Cape Girardeau, company vice president Scott Rhodes said this morning.

The Plaza Tire bid edged out an offer from Schaefer's Electrical Enclosures of Advance, Mo., which had strong support from city and economic development leaders. Bidders submitted their best price to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, N.Y. and the judge in the case deemed Plaza's bid the best offer.

The 150,000 square-foot building will become the corporate offices and distribution center for Plaza Tire's 49 stores in Missouri and Illinois.

Details of the transaction were not immediately available, but information included in Schaefer's Electrical's request for industrial development bond financing to the Cape Girardeau City Council stated that company was willing to pay $2.85 million for the property.

Rhodes said he would issue a statement later today detailing the company's plans.

Plaza Tire was founded in 1963 by Vernon "Pee Wee" Rhode as the Plaza Car Wash. The company moved into the used, then new, tire distribution business within a few years. Today Plaza Tire has 49 stores and is rated as the 28th largest independently owned tire retailer in the United States according to Tire Business magazine.

Schaefer's Electrical had sought up to $5 million in industrial development revenue bonds from Cape Girardeau to finance the purchase and expansion of its electrical switch box manufacturing business. The company plannded to move its entire production from Advance, Mo., to Cape Girardeau and expand its workforce from about 100 to about 140 by April.

Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president John Mehner declined to comment this morning on the court's decision.

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