Corporate - Company History

Bob Jane began selling tyres from a Melbourne store in 1965 in a venture that evolved into Australia's leading independent tyre retailer: Bob Jane T-Marts.

However, Bob Jane's foray into selling tyres had its origins a few years earlier when as a successful racing car driver he started his first business, Bob Jane Autoland. This successful business was a distributor for Jaguar and Alfa Romeo.

Bob Jane knew that the tyres he ran on his racing car were of critical importance. To maintain that winning edge, he began importing special tyres from overseas and experimenting with new rubber compounds for tyres for both his racing cars and his Autoland customers.

Bob Jane came to be recognised as an expert and it wasn't long before he was inundated with inquiries from the racing fraternity as well as the general public regarding tyres and new tyre technologies.

In 1965 the first Bob Jane tyre store opened in central Melbourne and was an instant success. More outlets were opened in Brisbane, Sydney and the ACT.

Bob Jane recognised that with an increase in car ownership and a growing public demand for quality tyres that there was a growing market for a tyre retailer in Australia.

The early 1970's saw the introduction of the "Bob Jane T-Marts" concept and the establishment of the "Bob Jane T-Marts" franchising system. In 1972 the first franchised Bob Jane T-Marts opened in Artarmon in NSW. Hans Sommer was the first franchisee and to date – over 30 years later – he is still with the company. T-Mart Operations also began in South Australia and by 1977 Bob Jane T-Marts had grown to encompass 22 stores across four states.

In 1977 the first purpose-built Bob Jane T-Mart opened in Chermside in Queensland. This outlet became the basis for the future national image and style of Bob Jane T-Marts.

By the end of the 1970's Bob Jane T-Marts had grown to a network of almost 30 outlets. The 1980's saw strong continued growth and by 1985, there were 70 Bob Jane T-Marts stores around Australia.

During the 1990’s the Bob Jane T-Marts network continued to grow and the 100th T-Mart was opened in Mt. Barker in South Australia in 1994. The network became truly national in 1999 when Bob Jane T-Marts moved into the West Australian market through the acquisition of the Tom's Tyres network of tyre dealers.

At the beginning of the new millennium in 2000, Bob Jane T-Marts had grown to a national network of over 150 T-Marts.

In 2003 the company embarked on the broadest corporate identity re-development in its history. The corporate identity makeover for all of the stores was carefully devised based on retailing trends, customer feedback and detailed franchisee input.

The new livery was designed to create a more prominent, high impact retail presence that embraced the company’s iconic logo and included a new standout colour scheme.

With a bright new corporate look and a continued commitment to deliver the highest levels of service and products to customers nationwide, Bob Jane T-Marts is well placed to remain the most trusted tyre, wheel and battery purchasing choice for Australian consumers.