Our location is not where anybody would come and say, 'a tire store would be good there,'" admits Tom Hargrove, co-owner with Mark Morrison of Tires First in Columbus, Ga.

The shop is located on a tree-lined road not far from a tank farm and across from a residential neighborhood. Nevertheless, they still get plenty of customers.

Enough that last year, they sold almost 24,000 tires from their one location, not including sales to car dealers and more than 2,400 retreaded commercial tires that passed through the business.

The company has a healthy mix of business that includes retail, commercial and government (school bus fleets, local, state, federal and military customers plus government contractors). Overall, tires account for 65% of total sales, with vehicle service making up the remaining 35%. The regional market has a population of approximately 210,000, not including a growing number of army personnel at nearby Fort Benning.

Morrison and Hargrove represent the second and third generations in the automotive business in their families. Morrison, 53, whose father was in the wholesale tire business, started working with Tires First's previous owner in 1982. Hargrove, 58, was with Michelin 14 years before he joined the company in 1994. The pair had an opportunity to buy the business in November 2002 and immediately rebuilt the office, added bays and purchased new service trucks.

"We committed to action with this partnership," says Morrison. "Our main focus was to the customer and to the community." Each partner has chosen his duties, and they play to each other's strengths. "I don't question him and he doesn't question me. It's a great relationship," Morrison adds.

It Pays to Advertise

The partners doubled the store's annual sales in a mere seven years. Traffic continues to grow; the company's 32 employees sometimes see more than 100 vehicles a day move through the sprawling, 28-bay facility How do they maintain such growth? "We work our butts off!" Hargrove answers with a hearty laugh. He then reveals one of the secrets to their success. "We advertise like crazy. When the economy gets slow, we actually beef it up to get more awareness."

Adds Morrison, "We use all of our earned co-op advertising plus much more from Tires First." Their primary means of advertising is TV, where they sometimes spend $10,000 a month running commercials on two local network affiliates, as well as in cable packages.

"It is not the fact of having a commercial, but branding ourselves," Morrison explains. In 90% of the commercials, the co-owners hammer on the company's "Quality-Performance-Value" slogan. The result is this message has stuck in the community's mind.

Billboards have been another way the pair get name and face recognition within the community. Now, with digital electronic billboards, they have the ability to change the board within one hour via e-mail, and to run daily specials if they want, which puts them another step in front of the competition. In fact, one of their digital signs is situated across the street from a competitor, Morrison notes.

They also buy print ads in high school sports programs, have signs at area baseball and football fields, advertise in a regional magazine and even have their company's name printed on score cards used at the local military base golf course. Tires First is just getting started with Facebook, thanks to help from Morrison's college-age daughters.

Personal Relationships Key

Having their faces appear nearly everywhere in the community has paid off. "People know us," says Hargrove. "It sounds corny, but our customers are our friends. They know about me and my hobbies, I know about them and about their kids going to college. Columbus is a big city, but yet small enough that we know the people and give them that personal touch they want." One or both owners that customers see in TV commercials greet and take care of everyone who comes in the door.

The partners know customers usually aren't happy about having to spend money on their vehicles, so they try to make them feel comfortable during their visit. For this reason they offer a coffee bar, hot tea, cappuccino machine and chilled bottled water without charge. Live plants help to make tIle waiting room more inviting, as do Internet service and big-screen HDTV There's a free shuttle to take customers to work or home, but "some customers elect for us to take them to the mall to shop," says Morrison. "During deer season, it is not uncommon for us to have a grill going in the morning with some deer sausage. The customers always like tasting this treat," he adds.

Community-Involved

"Without a community, no business can be successful," says Morrison. The partners help the community grow by giving it support and being involved. "We are always there with the schools, churches and non-profit organizations," he adds. When fund-raising is requested, the company is quick to donate oil changes for raffles or door prizes. Tires First supports the Red Cross, Cancer Society, Autism Society, Boys Club, Carpenters Ranch, Little League and Boy and Girl Scouts with donations and gift certificates.

Two employees of the Tires First team donate their time to help coach high school football and wrestling. "This is a win-win situation," according to Morrison. "The parents respect the time our employees put in and we gain new customers."

The store manager also serves as a volunteer for the State of Georgia Wildlife and Fisheries. He trains, teaches and certifies hunters so they can obtain a hunting license. Tires First allows its waiting room to be used for evening training sessions. "It's good for community involvement, but it also brings people into our store," says Morrison. This community service has been aired nationally on ESPN, further increasing the public's awareness of Tires First.

Business Challenges

"Our largest obstacles have been working through growth," says Morrison. "We could use another 10 bays, but we're geographically challenged right now," says Hargrove. They are scouting a new location, but have not decided whether it will be a move or a second location. The present location is in an area that has seen much growth over the past decade.

One new neighbor that moved in just down the road last year is a well known big-box retailer (you know, the one that has headquarters in Arkansas) . But Mark and Tom are not alarmed and don't fret about lost sales. To the contrary, they credit the big retailer's tire center with actually sending them business.

"We get their overflow," says Morrison. "They're only going to do so much, so when they get broken studs or brakes and alignments they can't do, we end up getting that business." Hargrove credits having built a relationship with the local managers at the big-box tire center for being able to get those referrals. "If anything, we gained a whole lot more than we potentially could have lost," he adds.

Tires First's standing in the community also helps. Hargrove continues, "A lot of customers know us, and come in with quotes from me big-box retailers and ask, 'Would you meet this price? I'd rather buy from y'all.' With everything we offer, we always take the order."

Can they still turn a profit? "You have to look at the total ticket, not just the tires, for me gross profit," he explains. "You may suffer a little bit on tires, but then you can pick up an alignment or brake service." Plus, if it's a program tire, the extra volume helps him to qualify for a lower price from the distributor.

Another challenge from growth has come in the commercial side of the business. Tires First became a Michelin retread associate dealer through Snider Tire in Columbus, hiring the manager and managing the accounts.

Then Snider moved out of town, trusting Tires First to service its accounts. "This is a great growth potential ," says Morrison. "With both companies having similar goals, the transition has been challenging, but very achievable. We are looking to more success through this transaction."

Another Secret to Success

Whenever possible, the partners make use of their vendors' marketing expertise. "We have had ATD and Michelin benchmark Tires First. We are able to look at ratios of similar businesses and try to improve our standings," says Morrison.

He believes every tire dealer should take advantage of this tool, since it gives you a look at the entire business averages of dealers your size.

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