Think about it, there are certain things people will always need. If you have a car or truck, you'll eventually need tires, no matter what the current economic situation. The tire shop I work in has 4 bays, and I heard them say we had a 161 tire day last week! That was new tires, not counting the rotate/balances and flat repairs that came in. I see lots of economy tires going out, but I also see plenty of expensive tires rolling out.