Goodyear to Close 92 Stores, Cut Jobs

NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Tuesday it will close 92 underperforming stores by the end of the year in a bid to boost profit in its U.S. operations. The company said the locations are not producing "acceptable returns." (How could they when their tires blow up all the time in NASCAR?)

Goodyear said by closing those stores, it will be able to focus on locations with "the best long-terms potential." The company added it will not announce the locations set to be closed until it has been able to communicate with the 500 full-time and 100 part-time employees who will be affected.

The closures will result in after-tax charges of about $30 million. About $15 million of those charges will be recorded in the third quarter, the company said. Goodyear said shutting the stores will eliminate losses of about $9 million annually from the stores. (If they shut down the entire company it will save the shareholders far more, and the NASCAR competitors won't have to compete on Goodyear's exploding tires)