R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Retail Tire Technician Jason Carlson balances a tire using a road force balancer at Pomp’s Tire Service in Escanaba.

EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.

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ESCANABA — A company that began in Green Bay, Wis., in 1939 and grew to have close to 200 branches across the country first came to Escanaba — only the 10th location — in 1984. Pomp’s Tire Service has been owned by the same family for its entire life in our city, and the business as a whole only changed hands once since it was founded 85 years ago. Pomp’s has a few types of service locations; the store in Esky is a “combo” one that provides retail, wholesale and commercial products and services.

Andrew “Sparky” Pomprowitz started a business christened Pomprowitz Tire Company towards the tail end of the Great Depression. His warehouse and passenger and wholesale operation took off on Roosevelt Street in Green Bay, where it enjoyed only a few years of business before a fire destroyed the facility and all its stock in 1942. They rebuilt and combined with an appliance company also run by the Pomprowitz family. When Sparky went to war that same year, his brothers, Joe and John, ran the business until Sparky’s return in ’44.

In 1952, the business shifted focus, moving into recapping (an old industry term for the practice know known as retreading), and became Pomp’s Recap Service. It moved to Green Bay’s Cedar Street, where the primary Pomp’s location remains today.

Following Sparky’s passing, the Wochinske family purchased the business from the Pomprowitzes in 1965 and rebranded to the name it has retained since — Pomp’s Tire Service. The broader title is reflective of the range of services Pomp’s now offers to all sorts of customers at multiple levels. That year, the first extension came with the opening of a branch in Shawano, Wis.

In 1967, the first retread facility opened. Retreading — which is the application of new tread to the inspected, buffed, repaired casings of used tires — is done for the tires of large commercial vehicles, mostly tractor trailers. In this way, material is preserved and the life of a tire extended. To date, Pomp’s has 30 retreading facilities, all of which use Bandag equipment.

Store number 10 found its home in Escanaba in 1984. Today, it employs 17 individuals. Staffed at the front counter are a couple people who take care of customers who walk in or call. Technicians, a few in each area, have different specialties. Retail tire technicians work on cars for individuals; there are commercial techs who handle jobs for semis; wholesale people provide for other businesses.

Manager Tim Menard said that in the 10 years he’s worked at the store – during which he grew and learned on the job, moving across positions after entering as a retail tech at age 18 – he’s seen the number of customers grow, routes reach farther, and employees nearly double.

Escanaba’s fleet has grown, too. Three box trucks are on hand to make deliveries, and two service trucks are available for 24/7 emergency commercial roadside assistance.

Menard mentioned that some people might not realize all the services Pomp’s offers for average drivers of passenger vehicles.

“On the retail side, our offerings would be tires, wheels, preventative maintenance, automotive repairs… We do alignments, brakes and suspension work, oil changes,” he listed.

For most services, said Menard, appointments are needed, “unless it’s a flat repair – then we get it in right away.”

Pomp’s Tire Service in Escanaba, located at 1900 6th Ave. N., is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.