NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Shopping for tires has never been a pleasant experience. You wander around a cluttered, dingy garage and sift through endless piles of rubber and technical jargon to find what you hope is the right pair. Customer service rarely rises above a grunt.

Goodyear (Research) wants to change how we change our tires. The tire giant's 750 company-owned automotive service centers and "Just Tires" outlets have begun a radical overhaul designed to appeal to women, who comprise about 60 percent of their customer base.

More from Fortune Will Mmmhops be a hit? NBA confirms L.A. Clippers sale to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer FBI and SEC probe into Carl Icahn and golfer Phil Mickelson FORTUNE 500 Current Issue Subscribe to Fortune

Why a la carte cable TV is a nutty idea Unbundling cable is about politics, not about driving down prices. (Read the column) More Plugged In • Ghosn shifts into overdrive • The hard truth about oil • Nike's new driver scores • Apocalypse ain't nigh • Compassionate capitalism at Timberland Plugged In Archive

The new design, now in 17 locations across the U.S. and slated to hit every company-owned automotive center by October, includes everything from new paint in the showroom to purse hooks in the bathroom.

Goodyear's hope -- one shared by companies like Best Buy and Yum! Brands-owned KFC -- is that in appealing to women, they'll better serve their core male customers as well. "If you do it right, the male customer will follow along," says Goodyear' director of marketing and merchandising Rob Rajkowski

In 2004, Goodyear began extensive research on the tire-buying experience of men and women. The results -- from interviews, focus groups, and hidden cameras—were depressing. "It was a high anxiety, confusing, and unclear process," says Rajkowski. "It was more of a grudge purchase than anything else."

Tires were stacked to the sky; information, when available, was incomprehensible (know what a UTQG rating is? Neither do we.); prices weren't listed; as for the bathrooms, don't even go there.

Change was swift. Out went the tire stacks, replaced with wall-mounted displays segmented by vehicle type, with simple price and feature information so consumers could make comparisons between models. The showroom also got a fresh coat of gold paint (the actual color is "gingerwhip"), with navy blue accents, making the place look "less like a garage and more like a retailer," says Rajkowski. Purse hooks and changing tables appeared in the bathrooms, and magazines like Real Simple were spread among the car enthusiast titles in the waiting room.

The company tinkered with the prototype all last year and made changes based on customer feedback. For example, while the tire wall was great, it only displayed four tires per vehicle category, so Goodyear added a product catalog nearby. Since women often like to take home information, pamphlets were added. Goodyear also put pictures of the store's employees on the wall, to emphasize that, as Rajkowski says, "It's not some schmo working on your car, it's Bob."

While Goodyear was convinced that the changes were necessary, its 3,500 independent dealers were another story. Would they pony up the $6,000 redesign cost? "We want to inspire them to do it, but they don't have to," Rajkowski says. "Initially they were skeptical."

To help sell the concept, Goodyear called on Just Ask a Woman, a New York-based brand consulting firm that has helped companies like Best Buy, Procter & Gamble, and Wal-Mart better understand and market to women.

Just Ask A Woman co-director Tracy Chapman made a one-hour presentation to about 700 dealers at the company's annual conference in Nashville earlier this month. In her speech, Chapman offered tips on dealing with women -- listen and ask more questions than you would with a guy -- and hammered home the idea that these changes would appeal to all shoppers, not just women. "We have no intention of making [Goodyear] pink, just better," she says.

Chapman was a hit in Nashville, but the true test will come later this year, when dealers decide whether or not to roll out the changes made initially to the company-owned tire centers. (It's too early to gauge the sales lift for the first 17 stores, Goodyear says.) Rajkowski, meanwhile, is already planning the next phase of Goodyear's facelift, which includes workstations with Wi-Fi access and kids' play areas.

As for the stores' exterior, "we will get to that," Rajkowski says. "First, we need people to come in and then come back again."