Magazine for the professional tire industry
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41 www.moderntiredealer.com Dealers find their own farm tire niches Imports and used tires are part of the solution By Joy Kopcha C orn and soybean farmers near Twin Valley Tire Inc. in Milbank, S.D., have had a good year. e rain fell at the right time, and farmers harvested record yields of the region's biggest crops. "Most said it was the best they'd ever seen," says Jamie LaRoche, part-owner of the tire dealership with Brendan Van Sambeek. If only those bumper crops had been matched by good commodity prices. "e extra bushels made up for some of the poor prices," LaRoche says. "at really helped. It gave people a good aitude." Still, his customers are cautious. "You've got to twist their arms a lile more to get them to spend the money. You've got to give them good service, and that makes up for a lot of the pricing if someone down the road has you beat by a couple bucks. "ey're being a lot more frugal with what they're buying," LaRoche says. "October and November were probably two of our biggest months with the number of service calls, but a lot of it was 'come and fix it,' whereas a couple years ago if a tire had 40%, it was 'replace it.'" On top of that, farm- ers are choosing lower- priced tires. "They 're migrating to the cheaper end." LaRoche says "the majors" are respond- ing to the shi. ey're Commercial Tire Dealer™ Twin Valley Tire's flagship location in Milbank, S.D., sells everything from consumer tires to farm and off-the-road tires. But used farm tires are a big part of the bottom line, and Jamie LaRoche, part-owner of Twin Valley, says the dealership sells them online and ships them to Mexico, Indonesia, and Canada. ALSO IN CTD Replacement farm tire radialization has plateaued . . . 42 Heavy-duty alignment opportunity: Technology creates new ways to mar- ket and profit from the service . . . 44 Commercially Viable . . . 52