EMU grad Bruce T. Halle opened his very first Discount Tire store on West Stadium in 1960. Fifty-one years and 800 stores later, Halle (now working out of corporate headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona) personally made the decision to abandon his original location in favor of roomier digs out Jackson just east of Zeeb. The new store opened in mid-October with double the square footage and quadruple the parking, something sure to be appreciated by anyone who’s ever tried to park in the cramped side lot between the old building and Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe.
Tim Ehinger, vice president of Discount Tire’s Michigan region, says Halle, eighty-one, still makes the final decision on all new properties, and “everybody kind of expected him to be very nostalgic about” his original location. But if Halle felt sentimental, he kept it to himself. Ehinger figures he may regard stores the way parents think of their kids: “We don’t love one any better than the other.”
Discount Tire, 5240 Jackson, 769-2158. Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sun. discounttire.com
