Goodyear taps into auto history, enthusiasm with new retail concept

Goodyear’s ties to Detroit date back to the early 1900s, when Henry Ford called on the company to outfit cars he wanted to test for racing.

Now, the Akron, Ohio-based tire manufacturer is paying homage to that history with the opening of its first retail concept store in Detroit.

“As we thought about where’s the place to do it, it’s the center of car culture,” Goodyear CEO and president Mark Stewart said on the Autotown podcast ahead of the Aug. 15 launch of the Goodyear Motor City Garage.

So enthused: The store opening was timed to coincide with the 2026 Woodward Dream Cruise, a celebration of automotive culture that typically draws around 1.5 million people and 40,000 classic and custom cars. As part of the brand’s event marketing, it also had the first double-blimp flyover in Detroit in nearly 20 years.

In a press release, Goodyear said the “special” Goodyear Auto Service Center will highlight “the company’s products, technology and heritage” and provide “a look at the vision for the future of vehicle care.”

“Whether you’re an enthusiast looking for ultra-high performance or just need help picking the best tires to get your SUV through the school pick-up line, we’re looking to show you how easy Goodyear can make vehicle care,” Stewart said in the release.

The Motor City Garage features a one-of-a-kind Detroit-themed Eagle racing tire laser-carved “with a love letter to Detroit,” per the release.

Services include those offered at other Goodyear locations—tire sales and installation, oil changes, alignments, brake services, battery replacement, free vehicle inspections, and preventative maintenance.

Goodyear’s other marketing efforts tied to the Woodward Dream Cruise included displaying the 1973 Ford Mustang convertible from the opening sequence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as well as a black and gold special edition of the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am W72 “Bandit” inspired by the Burt Reynolds and Sally Field movie Smokey and the Bandit.

This is all part of a revamped marketing strategy, Stewart told us, which centers on “bringing Goodyear back to the iconic company that it was for many, many decades.” The company reported a net loss for Q2 year over year, and its stock is down nearly 32% year-to-date amid higher costs and lower tire sales volume.

The brand launched a new “Fast Is in Us” global marketing campaign earlier this year. Stewart, who took over as CEO in January 2024, noted other efforts like restoring Cooper tire’s historic branding, and launching more than 1,500 products to enter new market segments.

Goodyear executives have revamped the company’s product offerings, sought to optimize its manufacturing footprint, and increased its business with original equipment manufacturers. The company has launched a new consumer product portfolio with a focus on higher-performance and larger rim-size tires.

“By becoming more consumer-focused, digitally connected, and retail-driven, the company is strengthening its position in the premium tire market while also making tire buying and automotive services more seamless,” the company said. “The Goodyear Motor City Garage is a real-world example of that vision.”

Multichannel business: Part of Goodyear’s’s strategy involves meeting customers where they’re at. It now offers a mobile installation service in 28 markets across the US.

“If you don’t want to come in, you don’t have to. We’ve got Goodyear mobile, which is a mobile garage service that can come to your work, to your house, meet you, bring your tires, change them out, do the oil changes and a lot of the basic service things,” Stewart said. “In terms of coming in, it’s coming in and having a fun experience, where you can sit down, have a coffee in a pretty cool environment with rotating classic cars and rotating motorcycles.”

The Detroit store drew inspiration from other destination concepts such as Starbucks Reserve Roastery, an exclusive, immersive retail concept Starbucks offers in six cities, and Nike House of Innovation, three flagship stores the athletic brand bills as “the future of retail.”

Americans spend more than four-fifths of their retail dollars at brick-and-mortar stores, according to data from Capital One, and nearly 65% of US consumers shop in-store at least once a week. Despite faster growth in e-commerce sales, Capital One forecast US brick-and-mortar sales to increase 3.73% to $6.27 trillion this year. And some 45.5% of US multichannel retailers with physical stores make more than half of their revenue in-store.

At the same time, the experiential retail market is projected to more than quadruple by 2035 from more than $130 billion today, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Goodyear plans to open four or five other destination retail stores in other markets, according to Stewart.

“We really wanted to get out and get closer to our consumers,” he said. The idea is “to have a destination location and make it a fun buying experience to change your car tires out with Goodyear-branded products.”