Magazine for the professional tire industry
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MTD September 2015 A 96-year marriage Lewis General Tires is almost as old as the General brand By Bob Ulrich L eon Lewis Sr. received his frst shipment of General tires in 1919, the year he opened one of the earliest General Tire & Rubber Co. franchises in the United States. His dealership was only four years younger than its supplier, which had quickly made a made a name for itself by patenting the oversized General Jumbo. Lewis General Tires Inc. was the frst to sell the premium replacement tire in Rochester, N.Y. Ninety-six years later, it is the oldest General tire dealer in the world. As the General brand celebrates its 100th anniversary, Lewis General Tire continues to service customers in the Rochester area. It also remains a family owned business. President Craig Lewis is the fourth generation Lewis to run the single-store dealer- ship. He follows in the footsteps of Leon and his son, Richard Sr., and Richard Jr. (Craig's father). Even after Continental AG purchased General Tire in 1987, the owners remained loyal. Today, Lewis General Tires sells both the General and Continental brands in addition to several others. "Tey consistently built a qual- ity product for 100 years," says Craig Lewis, who was named president earlier this year. "You combine that with our service and we've got the whole package. "Tey've always been around to handle the problems we've had. Tey've done their part to hold up their end of the relationship." Survival of the ftest William F. O'Neil and his partner, Winfred Fouse, founded General Tire & Rubber on Sept. 29, 1915, in Akron, Ohio. Following the end of World War I, the company was still in the process of building its nationwide network of independent and franchise dealers for the General brand. At the same time, Leon Lewis traveled to Akron, known as the "Rubber Capital of the World," looking to partner with one of the tire manufacturers based there. As a teenager, he had lef the family farm in Dundee, N.Y., and found work at Hood Tire, a small tire dealership in Rochester. By 1919, he decided it was time to branch out on his own. Lewis hit it of with a General Tire executive, and was ofered his own franchise. "He was ambitious and he was a survivor," says Craig. Survival hasn't always been easy. During the Great Depres- sion in the 1930s, Lewis General Tire merged with Scanlon Tire, a competitor across the street in downtown Roch- ester. According to Craig Lewis, there was not enough business for both companies to survive. "My great grandfather later bought him out and we went back to just Lewis General Tires again." In 1969, Richard Lewis Sr. decided to move to Hen- rieta, a Rochester suburb. "Rochester is one of those cities that experienced a mas- sive suburban sprawl in the latter 20th centur y," says Craig. "Te store was built to follow the population that feature The original Lewis General Tires store was located in downtown Rochester from 1919 to 1969. This is how the store looked in the 1950s, when General Tire & Rubber was getting into the original equipment business. Leon Lewis Sr. founded his namesake tire dealership in 1919. After World War II, he bought out his partners. "My great-grandfather came from nothing, and now three succeeding generations owe our livelihood to him," says President Craig Lewis. Tim McInerney, who is married to Craig's sister, is a commercial salesman in the business. 60