TIRES

Tire shops are ubiquitous in Georgia easily outnumbering stores that sell things you might actually want. I have pondered why there are so many and the first thing that came to mind is that it does rain a fair amount and after the rain there are a lot of potholes, which could cause significant tire damage. However, I would speculate that the real reason for so many tire shops is a general lack of imagination. Just because you have a bunch of old tires laying around your property and like to mess with cars doesn't mean you should open a tire shop in a saturated market.


On one occasion, I did visit a local tire shop, the late, great Blessing Tire Shop or Blessen Tire Shop (the spelling depends on which side of the building you are looking at). Being a Westside Jew unaccustomed to Southern ways hobbling in on an old flat tire, I naturally assumed that I would be purchasing a new tire or set of tires. Instead, the fella there pulled a nail out of my tire and fixed it for $5. He told me that I could pay him any amount I wanted for filling the tires with air. A month later, a comparatively sleek looking tire store opened across the street (actually I believe they just renovated the place) from Blessing Tire Shop and not surprisingly, Blessing went out of business. It was a cheerless end to a not quite glorious institution.

Anyhow, tire shops in Georgia tend to be exceptionally bedraggled and somewhat photogenic:

$20 max. Can't beat that price.

$20 seems to be the going rate for a used tire

Some tire stores expand into the rim business.

Designing their signs seems to be an afterthought

No more tires


People or at least one person has taken to sitting in front of Blessing Tire Shop. I apologize for not having any photos of it in its glory days when it was up and running and the sun shined high in the sky.

It likely wasn't such a great day for Blessing Tire Shop. Nope, I don't think it was.