Magazine for the professional tire industry
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MTD June 2014 'We just didn't want the small guy to be knocked out of a market' 17 independent tire stores band together to form United Tire & Service The name United Tire & Service LLC refects the mis- sion of 17 independent tire stores in Pennsylvania's Delaware Valley: unite to compete against big box retailers and national tire dealers. "We are individual businessmen who have gotten together to buy bet- ter," says Ken Sylvester, president. By joining forces, 14 dealers who operate 17 independent shops are able to offer competitive pricing on all major brands while still providing personal, high-quality service to their customers in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. "We are now able to compete and win with every major national tire center chain without compromising our mis- sion to not only meet our customers' expectations but to exceed them," says Sylvester. He has been in the tire industry for 30 years, as a technician, Goodyear dealer and now owner of Downingtown Tire & Service Inc., a 10-bay shop. Most of the dealers have known each other for many years. Up to eight years ago, nine of them were part of a partnership which operated nine stores. When the owner retired, each dealer bought his own store. At frst the indi- vidual dealers shared ac- counting services. As the dealers eventually bought more stores, their separate identities and increasing competitive pressures were hindering growth. "As we grew and got up to 16 stores we realized it was impossible for us to advertise, it was impos- sible to buy as a group, it was hard to grow anymore. We had gotten as big as we could in that type of entity. We decided we needed to become one as far as at least the identity," says Sylvester. Acquisitions of small stores by bigger chains such as Monro Muffer Brake Inc. and Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack were another factor. "They come into a marketplace and can do a category kill. They can take all the proft margin out of a tire. It's hard to be a tire dealer at that point. So we had to fnd a way to combat that. We just didn't want the small guy to be knocked out of a market," says Sylvester. About a year ago the nine dealers decided to open their group to new dealers and to rebrand themselves. Fourteen dealers were part of the group when United Tire & Service launched its new brand on April 29, but not all are partners in every loca- tion. "That's where the United Tire umbrella comes in," says Sylvester. "We've all joined under this umbrella to work together as one entity." Sylvester says shop owners can become United Tire authorized dealers, rebrand their stores and buy tires through the program. Or they can join com- pletely and take advantage of shared services such as accounting, credit card processing and training. The company's retail website, www.unitedtire.com, went live on April 30. In addition to showing product and service information, the website provides price News/views United Tire & Service partners (from left) Andy Chafolsky, Jeff Cohen, Ken Sylvester and Tim Steigerwalt launched their company's brand on April 29. As a collective group, United Tire & Service will be ranked as the largest independent tire group in the region and the second largest tire group in their market area, preceded only by Pep Boys-Man- ny, Moe and Jack. There are currently 14 dealers in the group with 17 shops. 8