Otasco (Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company)

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Otasco began in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, in 1918, when Lithuanian immigrant brothers Sam, Maurice, and Herman Sanditen opened a shop with a gas pump, used tires, and auto accessories. Initially listed as Oklahoma Salvage and Supply Company, it became Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company—the far snappier OTASCO—and moved its headquarters to Tulsa in 1925.

The chain expanded through small towns and beyond tires, stocking radios, vacuum cleaners, appliances, toys, hardware, and the assorted useful stuff that could turn a quick errand into a full Saturday. By 1943, it had 83 locations across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. At its 50th anniversary in 1968, Otasco counted 455 units in 12 states.

McCrory Corporation acquired Otasco in 1960 while retaining the Sanditens and management. Employees bought all of the company stock from McCrory in 1984, creating one of the nation’s largest employee-owned companies. But the late 1980s were a rough ride: Otasco filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in November 1988, closed 170 stores, and its remaining 62 stores shut on June 3, 1989.

Our Otasco (Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company) collection celebrates the stubbornly cheerful, oil-stained optimism of the neighborhood store where a set of tires, a toaster, and a fishing reel could share the same checkout counter. Tulsa retail history, neatly packed in a box with way too many extension cords.