Magazine for the professional tire industry
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63 www.moderntiredealer.com Hankook, Kumho, GT Radial, Cooper, Mickey Tompson, Nexen and Sumitomo. King's Tire is a member of the Indepen- dent Tire Dealers Group (ITDG) and purchases about $10 million annually in parts and tires. Batanian says his annual tire purchases are between $18 million and $20 million. Each of the retail stores has about $20,000 in parts inventories. He spends $200,000 annu- ally on parts. In addition, King 's Tire and Wheel is a Gold distributor for Conti- nental Tire the Americas LLC, a FasTrack distribu- tor for Pirelli Tire North America Inc., Te One distributor for Hankook Tire America Corp., a Kumho Premium Fuel distributor for Kumho Tire U.S. A . Inc. and a distributor for Mickey Tompson Performance Tires & Wheels. Model of success Batanian says he em- ploys the old-fashioned business model of taking care of customers and providing great service. Te strategy is paying of. "At our retail store in El Monte, we have 80% to 90% repeat business." Batanian says that service and a large se- lection of brands is what keeps King's growing in its market. He says he atracts and retains great employees by treating them like family and making the workplace a happy environment. In 2013 Batanian hired Net Driven, a provider of websites and Inter- net marketing solutions, to upgrade his website, www.kingstireandwheel.com. In 2013 he also began working with Custo- merLink Systems Inc. to promote King's Tire through direct mail. His goal is to keep existing customers while bringing in new ones. " We have three generations coming back to our stores. We're newer to Palmdale and Camarillo, but our name has a good reputation. We're planning to add more retail stores because we already have the wholesale; all we have to do is be our own supplier. We've looked at a couple of places to give a good geographical coverage. We're always looking for opportunities. Geographi- cally I want to have about 20 to 30 miles between each store so we will have a good coverage of Southern California." A big vision "I'm envisioning doubling my business in the next fve years. I think we have the opportunity because we have the right customers. Even if we just take care of them more we will achieve it very easily." Batanian says a major issue he sees currently is the infux of some low-quality imported tires in the U.S. However, he realizes that many of his customers are on tight budgets and can't aford to purchase name brand tires. "Some customers can't afford to pay twice as much. Tey don't want to pay it. If the gap was closer, within 15% to 25%, then a lot of people would be able to say, 'I would spend $100 more to have a beter warranty, a longer-lasting, safer tire.'" He says he stocks some imports to cover all income levels. Batanian's best-selling brands are Continental, Pirelli and Hankook for his main lines. "You have to explain to the customer the value of the tire they're buying. Tat's our business, that's what we do with our customers. We make sure they understand that. You have to sell the beter tire to the customer — you'll make more money and they'll be happier." ■ 'We're planning to add more retail stores because we already have the wholesale; all we have to do is be our own supplier.' Includes Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) capabilities for GM trucks, plus expanded Asian and European coverage. Never any added sensor programming or cloning steps with REDI-Sensor ™ TPMS! Now covers an additional 15 Million vehicles in North America! • Ready out of the box! • Pre-programmed and designed to follow OE vehicle relearn procedures • Works with all major TPMS scan tools • Reduces inventory and eliminates service delays • OE designed and validated For more information, e-mail: salessupport-us@vdo.com or call: 800-564-5066 www.redi-sensor.com VDO and REDI-Sensor – Trademarks of the Continental Corporation See why VDO REDI-Sensor ™ saves time and money. Watch the video: Quik-Link: 800-687-1557 ext. 17135