Southern Tire Mart Opens in Craig with Community Focus

“It’s still a family-run business,” Dave Asmussen said.

He’s standing in the middle of a Craig storefront that smells like fresh rubber and industrial cleaner, looking out at a town that has seen this building change hands more times than most locals can remember. The sign above the door says Southern Tire Mart. The history beneath the concrete says Brewer Tire, then Tire Distribution Systems, then GCR, and finally, now, Southern.

Asmussen, the store manager, wants you to know that despite the corporate logo and the fact that the parent company operates roughly 240 stores across the country, this isn’t a faceless branch of a giant. It’s owned by two brothers who, he argues, still prioritize service over pure financial extraction.

“Their service kind of sets them apart,” Asmussen said. “They want service to be number one.”

That’s the pitch. The retailer has opened its doors in Craig, occupying the same physical footprint that has housed tire retailers for decades. But the question locals are asking isn’t just about who owns it — it’s about whether this is just another chain store that will drain profits out of Moffat County, or if the promise of “community involvement” holds water.

For now, the store is fully open, though renovations are still wrapping up. Crews are expected to finish the remaining upgrades by June. Right now, you can get tires and oil changes. Alignments are coming once they hire more alignment technicians. Sales staff are still being sought. It’s a skeleton crew of five people, including Asmussen, who is betting his own career history on the idea that you can’t run a service business if the manager is stuck in an office.

“I came from the service side of the business,” he said. “If staffing shortages arise or the shop becomes busy, I can step into the shop and work alongside technicians. That kind of sets me apart from a lot of other managers.”

It’s a small detail, but in a town where everyone knows everyone, the manager getting his hands dirty matters. Asmussen moved to Hayden about two years ago after living outside Jackson, Wyoming. He’s been in the tire game in Seattle, worked with TDS before it got bought, and now he’s here. He’s not a corporate transplant dropped in from a distant headquarters; he’s a guy who’s been in the trenches.

The community angle is where Southern Tire Mart is trying to differentiate itself from the big-box competitors. They’re not just waiting for customers to walk in; they’re looking for sponsorships. Asmussen mentioned Whittle the Wood and the Moffat County Balloon Festival as targets. They’ve already dropped cash into the Moffat County Disc Golf Association, helping fund one of the course’s baskets. It’s a tangible investment in local leisure, not just a billboard on Highway 64.

But the immediate reality is a construction zone. The noise is still there. The staffing is still thin. Asmussen admits the primary goal right now is simple: establish the business, continue growing, and become part of the community it now occupies.

Whether that means Craig gets a reliable, locally-minded tire shop or just another link in a national chain’s supply chain depends on how fast they fill those technician roles and how deep those community roots go. For now, the doors are open, the brothers are watching, and Asmussen is ready to wrench if he has to.

“We’re here to stay,” Asmussen said. “We’re building on the location’s history while creating a strong local presence.”