Goodyear closes uptown, clearing path for planned 27-story tower

The Goodyear auto repair shop, for decades an uptown fixture at Stonewall and Tryon streets, is shutting its doors.

Employees on Monday loaded tires and tools, and pulled down posters from the walls. One said the shop had closed as of Friday and likely would be fully emptied by week’s end.

“We are closing that store,” Goodyear spokesman Jim Davis confirmed later. “It’s a difficult decision, but what’s going on there is it’s been an unprofitable store and we have an expiring lease.”

Goodyear’s seven employees will move to other Goodyear stores, Davis said.

The shop’s departure helps clear the path for the 27-story mixed-use tower called Tryon Place that Crescent Communities plans to build on the 3-acre site.

Crescent’s plans include office, retail and hotel components, but the company has said it won’t announce a start date for construction until it lands an anchor tenant.

“Goodyear’s move is part of our pre-development phase,” said Brian Leary, president of Crescent’s commercial and mixed-use business unit. “Our goal is to start construction in 2015 for a 2017 delivery, and we’re putting the pieces in place to have a site ready to go consistent with this development schedule.”

The closing of the Goodyear shop was unwelcome news for uptown workers on the south end of Tryon, who had long dropped their cars off before walking to work, planning to retrieve their serviced vehicles at quitting time.

The shop had been there since at least 1961, according to city directories. The company has had a presence in uptown stretching back even further – the 1940 city directory shows a Goodyear shop at East Fourth and Brevard streets.

Goodyear’s exit from South Tryon follows that of the Firestone shop that once sat on the northwest corner of the Stonewall-Tryon intersection. It was torn down to make way for the Duke Energy Center tower, completed in 2010. On the opposite end of uptown, Woodie’s auto shop, at Ninth and Tryon streets, remains open. Also still uptown: McCarthy Tire at Sixth and Graham streets.

Staff researcher Maria David contributed.

This story was originally published October 20, 2014 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Goodyear closes uptown, clearing path for planned 27-story tower."