10 minute read
Seasonal tire storage
Make space for a service that brings customers back to your shop every fall and spring
By Ann Neal
From computer hard drives to retail stockrooms, space always seems to be at a premium. But making room to of er seasonal Dunn Tire began offering tire storage service in 2006. The company is tire storage service can f ll a marketplace need, add currently storing 14,000 tires for customers at its 31 retail stores and a revenue stream and increase customer retention. three warehouses in New York and Pennsylvania.
Modern Tire Dealer called six dealerships in Minnesota and North Dakota, states known for harsh winters, to you build a bet er relationship with customers and gives you ask if storage of summer tires was available with the purchase of an opportunity to look at their vehicles again. winter tires. All said no, citing lack of space as the reason. “We “Some customers do not have space to store tires, some do not store tires. If we had everyone’s tires here, we’d have no may have space in a garage but do not want to place tires in place for new tires,” was the response from an employee of a it, and others do not have means of transporting their tires. Minnesota dealership. T e person who answered the phone So tire storage service is a convenience for them.” at a dealership in North Dakota said, “I don’t know of anyone When tires are placed into storage, the company’s identif cahere in town who does that.” tion system generates a label with the customer’s name on it. When the customer is ready to swap tires, the identif cation Why two dealers make space system enables Dunn to retrieve the tires and have them at
Dunn Tire Service LLC of Buf alo, N.Y., decided to introduce the shop in 72 hours or less. an option for storing of -season tires in 2006. “It isn’t done Dunn Tire is No. 35 on the Modern Tire Dealer 100 list of by everybody, so it’s an opportunity to provide a customer the nation’s largest independent tire dealers. service that’s unique,” says Patrick Logue, managing director Belle Tire Inc. makes space for tire storage services in Michiof retail operations. To learn what providing the gan and Ohio, where it has 87 retail and combination service involved, Logue visited Pneus Touchet e retail commercial outlets. Distribution Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, which “We operate a fairly substantial of -season has of ered tire storage for many years. tire and wheel assembly storage program,”
When Dunn Tire rolled out its service says Jef Kruse, senior vice president for seven years ago, it was almost an immediBelle Tire. ate success, according to Logue. Today, T e company calls its of -season storage the company has 14,000 customer tires service Tire Valet. T e service involves stored at its 31 locations in New York inserting a customer’s tire and wheel and Pennsylvania, and three warehouses assembly into a custom-designed storage in Buf alo, Rochester and Syracuse. T e bag at the Belle Tire store. A bar-coded charge to store four tires is $39.96. T e label for each assembly is printed at the service is an additional revenue stream and point-of-sale terminal and inserted into the much more. “It’s a great customer retention tool valet bag. A description of the product and because once you have their tires and their In-store graphics promote Belle Tire’s condition is recorded within the POS wheels, there’s a real good chance you will seasonal tire storage program. Tires system. T e valet bags are shipped on keep them as a customer,” says Logue. are electronically bar coded, placed the next delivery truck to Belle Tire’s
Unlike repair services, tire storage draws in protective bags and shipped to the distribution center, where the bag’s barcustomers to a dealership for an optional company’s climate-controlled distribution center for storage. Belle Tire uses coded label is scanned into the company’s service they want, creating a win-win situa bar code-based warehouse managesystem. Each bag is opened and the tire ation for both parties. “T e service helps ment system to track tire location. and wheel assembly is washed in a special
washer. T e assembly is returned to the valet bag and the bag is scanned to a pallet and specif c bin location for storage in the DC.
When it’s time to swap tires, a customer only has to phone or email any Belle Tire outlet to return his or her tires. T e valet bag is shipped the following day to the retail store. T e bags remain company property; the customer pays only for the service. Belle Tire charges $80 to store four tires per season. T e price includes removing and reinstalling the assemblies on the customer’s vehicle as well as cleaning and storage.
Belle Tire is No. 8 on the MTD 100. In October 2013, the company opened its newest store in Lapeer, Mich.
Finding space from a third party
In Denver, dealers are f nding space for tire storage services through a company that of ers wholesale storage
Belle Tire stores off-season tires in “Tire Valet” bags in a 306,000-square-foot distribution center. Identif cation tags that show the tire’s owner and the bar codes used to track the tires in Belle Tire’s climate-controlled distribution center are attached to each bag. Customers pay $80 for four tires per season.
capacity to providers of tires and tire-related services.
Mike Caplinger, the founder of Seasonal Tire Storage Inc., says close to 250 tire dealers, car dealerships and auto repair shops are referring their customers to him for storage of tires. T e family-owned business recently moved to a larger, climate-controlled warehouse, its fourth expansion since beginning operations in 2010. “Wholesale customers are generally tire sellers who want to resell our service at a prof t to their customers at the point of the tire sale,” says Caplinger, who has 30 years of experience in the auto repair industry.
“T ey pay a reduced rate, but the tire owner is the tire seller’s accessories to tire dealers, car dealers, auto repair shops and customer, not ours. T at means the tire seller’s shop maintains collision repair centers across Canada. T e company is based control over where the customer goes for their seasonal tire in Ontario and serves more than 2,700 customers through swap. T at shrewd shop realizes a guaranteed two visits per year four distribution centers. to inspect for brakes, shocks, or whatever else they of er, not Although Quebec is the only Canadian province requiring to mention the prof t from initially selling those winter tires.” winter tires, Gregory says consumers use tire storage services
Seasonal Tire Storage also markets pick-up, delivery and throughout the country. “Pret y much everyone is of ering storage of tires directly to consumers. The company will some form of storage. T ere is quite a high concentration, transport tires to any location a consumer specif es in the especially in large metro markets across Canada.” Denver area for installation. Customers T e size of tires is helping to drive derequest transportation and storage of mand for tire storage services, according tires via phone or the company’s website, to Gregory. “T e Toyota Corolla and Ford www.tirestorage.com. Focus are coming with 15-inch tires. T e
“They contact us, often after being Chevrolet Cruze is coming with 16-inch referred to us by their tire professional, and tires. T ere’s no room in the car to bring we make all the storage, transportation, home the summer tires.” and billing arrangements directly with T e biggest challenge with of ering tire that person,” says Caplinger. storage services is always space, says Gregory.
“T e retail customers pay our highest Some dealers use secure public storage units rate, and we’re obligated to transport their or lease warehouse space near their stores. tires whenever and wherever they direct us T e decision to store tires on site comes to. T at can mean that if their experience down to a realistic business plan. “If you with a given store was unsatisfactory, allocate 500 square feet of f oor space and they could direct us to take their tires put racking in, you should be able to get 500 elsewhere next swapping season.” tires there. You know what 500 feet costs you.
T e company posts a list of recomYou can charge a reasonable storage fee and mended service facilities on its website. Mike Caplinger says Seasonal Tire Storage Inc., which provides tire even make a prof t. T e beauty of it is you “T ere are tire stores that encourage tire storage and transportation wholestore summer and winter tires.” storage and winter tire purchases,” he says. sale services to tire retailers in the “If we believe a tire store is promoting the Denver area, has long-range plans Sof ware for of -season storage use of winter tires, we give them status to expand to 36 markets. Atlas doesn’t store tires for its dealers. on our website’s locator map. However, it recently partnered with Tire
“We take a look to see how well equipped they are before Storage Solutions Ltd. (TSS), a company that provides sof ware we include them on the locator. We want people to gravitate for tracking and organizing of -season tires. Gregory says he toward those shops.” wanted to maintain his company’s focus on distribution while
T e company also developed proprietary sof ware to manof ering a storage option to dealers. age and track of -season tires. T e sof ware archives images TSS sof ware stores data on customers, storage location, of a customer’s tires, creates documentation about a tire and tire changing appointments and tire/wheel status including its condition, and provides up-to-the-minute information condition, brand, model and size. T e proprietary sof ware on a tire’s status. also enables dealers to document damage to rims and tires.
Caplinger sees opportunities for his company and tire deal“If our clients have a storage solution, it helps them sell more ers as the public becomes more aware of the safety benef ts tires, and that’s how we benef t,” says Gregory. Atlas introduces of winter tires. His long-range plans are to establish Seasonal its customers to TSS, which bills customers direct, he adds. Tire Storage operations in 36 markets. “T e f rst new markets TSS sof ware is used in tire storage warehouses and car are likely to be Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois and tire dealerships across Canada, according to Christine because of the amount of winter tire use and the number of Athron, TSS account manager. Dealers can monitor the qualif ed inquiries. T ere is so much more people could know condition of tires and wheels to inform customers of the need about winter tires that we believe the tire storage business has for replacements during the changeover process as well as room to grow.” alignment and balancing services. In addition, dealers who of er a storage service can bet er manage tire swap season by People will pay for convenience booking appointments before the f rst snowfall.
T ere has traditionally been a higher awareness in Canada A new revenue stream that strengthens relationships with than in the United States of the need for winter tires, according customers while generating sales of tire and repair services to Peter Gregory, president of Atlas Tire Wholesale Inc. He is a strong reason to consider making space for tire storage says that wherever there is seasonal business, there is a market service. But the greatest incentive is increased customer retenfor tire storage services. “You are selling a convenience, and tion, according to Athron. “Dealers are not paying marketing people will pay for a convenience. You have an opportunity costs for a customer’s car to be in the shop twice a year on a to f ll a need and earn money of that service.” hoist with a technician looking at it. T ere’s a lot of value for
Atlas distributes passenger and light truck tires, wheels and a dealership.” ■
