Sam Waze founded Belle Tire back in 1922 and named his Detroit shop after his wife, Belle. Very few Michigan roads were paved at that time, so there were plenty of repairs to be made on cars that had bounced too hard over gravel, bricks, or cobblestones.

Waze’s son Herb eventually took over the business and later partnered with Don Barnes Sr., who had been a Kelly Tires salesman before joining Belle Tire. The two opened stores as far north as Traverse City. The Barnes family bought Belle Tire in the 1980s and has owned it ever since.

With more than ninety locations across Michigan and Ohio and three more set to open in Indiana, Belle Tire opened its latest at the end of May on Ellsworth just east of the roundabout at State. After the last two winters, it’s no secret that Michigan roads are almost as bumpy as those Sam Waze’s customers traveled.

If you’re driving south on State St., you can avoid the roundabout and turn left at Tim Hortons. It shares a parking lot with Belle Tire, which is either great or not, depending on how you feel about Tim Hortons. “It’s so convenient,” says Belle Tire assistant manager Jeremy Palmer who admits to eating there almost daily since Belle Tire opened.

But the lunch options are not why he likes his company. “It’s got a great reputation, and it’s a family-oriented business,” says Palmer, sitting down for a few minutes in the waiting area that features free Wi-Fi and free coffee. Several chairs and three side tables made from tires are arranged at one end of the 10,000-square-foot facility. A modular freestanding counter surrounded by six barstools also sits in the waiting area, with a power strip down the center with outlets and USB ports for charging phones and laptops.

Sean Wilson says he’s humbled to be managing the new location. The father of a three-year-old son, with a baby girl due in September, he had been commuting to the Belle Tire in Sylvania, Ohio, until mid-May. “Now my commute is cut in half, and I’m part of a great team,” says Wilson, who grew up in Saline and lives in Clinton.

Like every Belle Tire, the store has an enormous American flag waving in the wind (see Outside, p. 21). “It’s a thirty-footer,” says Wilson. A 2012 article about an Ohio Belle Tire store claimed the flags were first displayed in 1991 to honor American troops in the Gulf War, but communications coordinator Sam White says Belle Tire had been displaying flags long before then. “We’re proud to fly our flag,” she says.

The other red, white, and blue Belle Tire emblem is Tireman, the store’s animated mascot. Tireman, a white tire with black tread and a red cap, has big eyes and an even bigger grin and wears a blue shirt and red pants. If you have kids and need to get a tire fixed, the new location offers a toy-sized, Beanie Baby-like version of Tireman. Squeeze it, and it squeaks, “Belle Tire!”

Belle Tire, 590 W. Ellsworth, Ann Arbor, 368-9700. Mon. & Thurs. 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Tues., Wed., & Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sun.