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Big O Tires dealers hit $1 billion in sales

LEADERS PLAN FOR NATIONAL PRESENCE

By Joy Kopcha

Big O Tires franchisees set back-to-back sales and pro tability records in 2020 and 2021 and for the rst time, turned the franchise program into a billion-dollar business. New leaders at Big O’s helm say it’s just the beginning and that Big O Tires is “poised for monumental growth.”

Laurent Bourrut, the CEO of TBC Corp. since July 2021, spoke to Big O Tires franchisees during the group’s annual convention.

Bourrut said TBC is “especially committed to growing Big O. Big O is a fantastic brand and this is really, really a major growth engine for our company — for TBC. We are fully convinced that Big O is a fantastic platform poised for monumental growth in the coming years.” e conference was Big O Tires’ rst gathering of its 200-plus franchisees since April 2019. Bourrut was joined by other TBC executives, including Brian Maciak, who took over as the head of Big O Tires on July 1, following the retirement of Jim Bull.

Bull noted that in 2021, same-store sales increased 16%. e group’s wholesale and retail tire units increased and collective auto service sales grew by more than 20%.

Twelve new Big O Tires stores opened last year and every store that was up for franchise renewal remained in the Big O Tires network.

Despite the massive upheaval in business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and all the other disruptions that followed, Bull said, “We came out ahead. Big O Tires has very ambitious, long-term goals. We want to become a national chain, without losing the essence of who we are.”

One of the lessons that leaders of Big O Tires learned is that their franchisees have a collective wisdom that can help the whole group move forward.

Maciak told MTD that during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, store owners were asking for advice on a critical question: “How do we keep our people safe and healthy?”

“I wouldn’t want to go through that again, (but) we realized pretty quickly if we don’t have the answers at corporate, some of our franchisees have very good ideas,” said Maciak. “We (also) revamped our governance structure. We now have committees of corporate (representatives) and franchisees, not just for COVID19, but broad topics — IT, training, operations.”

The idea of those committees wasn’t completely new, but Maciak said Big O Tires “blew it up even more. We can get to a better answer quicker when we do it with our franchisees. ey love having a voice (and) playing a role in the decision making.” e conference highlighted the work of some of those committees and how they’re focusing on four strategic areas for the Big O Tires program: Competitive advantages, using technology and innovation; Sta ng, since the ability to train has become more vital as already-trained employees are hard to nd; Store growth and the importance of growing, given the activity of private equity in market consolidation, and; Fleets, including embracing eet work as a critical part of business. As just one example, Big O Tires franchisee Joe Happel said the group’s operations and training committee is building a framework to nd mentor dealers to guide new franchisees. e committee also is pushing to expand its corporate training team and its resources, while also nding ways to revamp Big O Tires Academy to make Kent Coleman is a Big O Tires franchisee and owner of the franchise program’s top store in the country. it more usable and information more digestible. The Salt Lake City, Utah, store recorded sales of A big focus of the conference was nearly $10.5 million in 2021 and is the rst Big O celebrating the people within the orgastore to cross the $10 million annual sales threshold. nization, as well as the success of the Photo: MTD group’s stores. Standing O Awards were presented to Clark Brown, Rick Zirges and Mike Ledbetter. ree Big O Tires dealers also were welcomed into the Hall of Fame — the late Bill Skidmore, who died in 2013; Mitch Beranek; and Greg Kimberlin. At the store level, Big O Tires recognizes a location the rst time it crosses the threshold of $2 million in sales. e next recognition comes at the $3 million level, then the $4 million level and so on. e group also highlights its top 10 stores nationally. In 2021, those stores recorded more than $70 million in total sales. Each of the stores in the top 10 had more than $5 million in sales. And for the rst time, a Big O Tires store broke the $10 million annual sales barrier. at store, a longtime leader in the Big O Tires system, is owned by Kent Coleman and is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Total 2021 sales there were nearly $10.5 million.

Partners in business and at home

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR KEVIN GROSE, TRISHA ANDREWS AND THEIR OK TIRE STORE

By Maddie Gehring

OK Tire has 325 branded, franchise stores from the west to east coasts of Canada. All of the stores are independently owned and operated. An OK Tire location in Prince George, British Columbia, happens to be owned and operated by business partners who are married.

Kevin Grose and Trisha Andrews have owned their OK Tire location since 2017 and have been married since 1991. e couple has successfully navigated this professional/ personal dynamic to build a successful business that continues to grow.

IN IT TOGETHER

Kevin Grose started working at the store under his father, George Grose, when he was only 12 years old. His father opened the location in 1955.

“He wanted an opportunity to have a business that services multiple people,” says Kevin. e younger Grose thought taking over the business seemed like a “no-brainer” since he had worked there for so many years.

Now, at age 49, he says he is “fully invested” in the store and has put in 37 total years there, with 33 of those being full-time.

Trisha, also 49, took a slightly di erent on-ramp into selling tires.

In 2002, she was pregnant with the couple’s second daughter and wanted a job that would give her exible hours so she could maintain a good work-life balance.

She began working part-time at Kevin’s father’s store and fell in love with her job. She decided to stay full-time.

Kevin acknowledges that being an independent, second-generation owner is a big accomplishment. But he says that owning the store with Trisha is the thing he is the most proud of.

BALANCING WORK AND LIFE

Trisha says that doing business with a spouse provides some advantages that other arrangements may not o er.

“You are able to bounce ideas o of each other’s strengths and not have that power or control dynamic that some partners may have, because they don’t live with each other and don’t know what it’s like when you can nish each other’s sentences.” e relationship between Trisha and Kevin allows them to be more open as business partners. Both feel more free and comfortable to share thoughts and ideas because they know where the other person is coming from.

Even though there are unique upsides to being a business partner with a spouse, both acknowledge there are unique struggles, as well.

“Sometimes it’d be nice to come together at the end of the day and be like, ‘Oh, guess what happened today?’” says Kevin. “But we don’t have that because we are both” at the store.

Not talking about work outside of business hours can be a challenge. The couple follows a set of rules and established boundaries to not talk about work when away from the store. ey even make a point to take vacations individually, so they can “appreciate some time apart.”

CHANGE IS CONSTANT

Kevin and Trisha’s OK Tire location provides a wide range of tires and tire-related services for passenger cars and light trucks. It also o ers a variety of mechanical services and does “pretty much anything but exhaust (work) and transmissions,” says Kevin. e partners say they have seen a lot of changes during their time as the store’s owners. Utilizing tools like the internet

Kevin Grose (second from far right) and Trisha Andrews (far right) have owned their OK Tire location since 2017. Employees include, from left to right, Justin Flieger, Rob Nootebos, Dennis Menning, Ian Mergen and Tristen Popowich.

Photo: OK Tire

and OK Tire’s website, customers have become more knowledgeable about what they want when they come into the shop, according to Trisha. ere also are a lot more product options than in the past. Kevin remembers that at the beginning of his career, there were fewer tire brands and sizes.

One constant for the couple’s OK Tire location has been its customer base.

Kevin says that being a part of the same community for decades has bene tted the store. And he believes excellent service and personal relationships with clients have helped with customer retention.

Kevin and Trisha say future goals for their business include improving various systems and procedures to increase e ciency, while preparing the store to be handed over to the next generation of owners within seven to eight years. e couple’s two daughters have other plans for their futures, so they are mentoring young employees who already have “experience and connection with the customers” and have been with the company for a long time.

Lincoln Corsair — 2020-2021

When directed to train any TPMS sensors, use only the sensor training procedure outlined in this article. Do not use the TPMS reset procedure outlined in the owner’s literature as this procedure does not program new sensors to the module. e TPMS uses four valve stem mounted sensors to monitor tire pressure. ese sensors wirelessly transmit tire pressure data to the RTM. e RTM is a radio signal receiver which collects the tire pressure data and sends the information to the BCM along a LIN. All TPMS functions are controlled by the BCM. e BCM compares the tire pressure data sent by the RTM with a programmed tire pressure. If the actual tire pressure is less than the programmed tire pressure, the BCM sends a low tire pressure message to the GWM along the HS-CAN1. e GWM then sends this message to the IPC along the HS-CAN3. e IPC responds by illuminating the TPMS warning indicator and displaying a low tire pressure message in the message center. e TPMS sensors are trained (calibrated) to the BCM which records the unique identi er for each sensor and records the location of each sensor based on the calibration order. e diagnostic scan tool is useful in diagnosing TPMS concerns and may be used to verify the accuracy of the data transmitted by the TPMS sensors. is is accomplished by comparing the BCM tire pressure PID data to the actual tire pressure using a digital tire pressure gauge. It is not necessary to train the sensors a er a tire rotation on vehicles with the same front and rear tire pressures; however, the BCM cannot recognize the sensor identi ers have been moved to di erent positions and retains the original position information for each sensor.

WHEEL ROTATION AND SENSOR TRAINING TECHNIQUES

Training known good sensors from another vehicle can help determine whether the concern is with a sensor or the RTM. is technique cannot help determine whether the concern is due to RFI as some RFI source could be preventing the RTM from receiving the tire pressure status from the known good sensors as well as the original sensors. If the RTM in the suspect vehicle cannot train any of the original sensors and, likewise, cannot train known good sensors from another vehicle, then the concern is with the module or RFI and not with the original sensors. e original sensors should not be replaced. If a sensor in a certain location has caused several events, yet the sensor trains and seems to operate normally, moving that particular wheel to a di erent location on the vehicle is a good way to isolate the concern to a certain sensor/wheel location.

Rotate the wheels and road test the vehicle. is can be done in an attempt to replicate the concern and help determine if the concern followed the sensor or remained in the original sensor location. If the vehicle has been stationary for more than 30 minutes, the sensors go into a “sleep mode” to conserve battery power and need to be “woken up” so they transmit the latest information to the RTM.

TRAINING IN A DIFFERENT ORDER

If the rst sensor fails the TPMS training procedure, the BCM aborts the entire procedure. Starting the training procedure at a di erent wheel is a technique that can be used to determine if the remaining sensors can train to the module. is can help save time determining if one sensor is damaged, other sensors are having concerns or the BCM is experiencing training di culties with a certain TPMS sensor location.

TPMS WARNING INDICATOR

e TPMS warning indicator is used to indicate both a low tire pressure event and a possible system fault condition. Occasionally, the warning indicator and message center indicate faults that cannot be resolved by the customer. Treat these as TPMS faults that must be serviced. e TPMS warning indicator remains on continuously and the message center displays LOW TIRE PRESSURE when any of the tire pressures fall below the low pressure limit. When this condition exists, adjust the tire pressure to the recommended cold tire pressure indicated on the VC label. e TPMS warning indicator ashes for 70 seconds and then remains on when the ignition is set to ON and the TPMS is malfunctioning. e TPMS status PID can be used to determine why the TPMS warning indicator is ashing. e TPMS warning indicator illuminates when the IPC has not received any signals from the BCM for more than ve seconds, or when the TPMS is malfunctioning. e message center displays TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR FAULT.

COMPONENT DESCRIPTION

BCM: e BCM is a module that monitors all sensor inputs and all CAN messages that relate to the TPMS. e BCM records and retains the unique sensor identi er of each TPMS sensor, and retains the previous sensor location information following a tire rotation. To learn the new sensor location, the sensors must be calibrated to the BCM. All four sensors must be trained when a new BCM is installed. When the data is cleared, the tire pressure DID’s reset to the factory default of 149.96 psi and the IPC displays dashes for the tire pressures. e sensors must be activated to transmit the latest tire pressure information. RTM: e RTM is a radio receiver used to collect the pressure data from the sensors.

Fig 1: For a paddle-type tire machine, position the valve stem at the 12 o’clock or 6 o’clock position and the paddle at the 3 o’clock position.

Photo: Mitchell 1

COMBINE BOTH FREQUENCIES COMBINE BOTH FREQUENCIES COMBINE BOTH FREQUENCIES

315MHZ + 433MHZ 315MHZ 315MHZ + + 433MHZ 433MHZ

PRESS RELEASE INTERCHANGEABLE VALVE STEMS PRESS RELEASE INTERCHANGEABLE VALVE STEMS PRESS RELEASE INTERCHANGEABLE VALVE STEMS 99 99 99 % VEHICLE COVERAGE % VEHICLE COVERAGE % VEHICLE COVERAGE

ALUMINUM > ALUMINUM > ALUMINUM > RUBBER > RUBBER > RUBBER >

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT FIT FORM & FUNCTION ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT FIT FORM & FUNCTION ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT FIT FORM & FUNCTION

PROGRAMMABLE UNIVERSAL TPMS 1-SKU SENSOR INVENTORY MAX SIGNAL STRENGTH SUPERIOR BATTERY LIFE PROGRAMMABLE UNIVERSAL TPMS 1-SKU SENSOR INVENTORY MAX SIGNAL STRENGTH SUPERIOR BATTERY LIFE PROGRAMMABLE UNIVERSAL TPMS 1-SKU SENSOR INVENTORY MAX SIGNAL STRENGTH SUPERIOR BATTERY LIFE COMBINES 314.9, 315 & 433MHZ APPLICATIONS INTO ONE SENSOR COMBINES 314.9, 315 & 433MHZ APPLICATIONS INTO ONE SENSOR COMBINES 314.9, 315 & 433MHZ APPLICATIONS INTO ONE SENSOR

UPDATES POWERED BY DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE SOLUTION OE QUALITY SENSORS POWERFUL SCAN TOOLSCOMPLETE SOLUTION OE QUALITY SENSORS POWERFUL SCAN TOOLSCOMPLETE SOLUTION

UPDATES POWERED BY DIAGNOSTICSOE QUALITY SENSORS POWERFUL SCAN TOOLS UPDATES POWERED BY DIAGNOSTICS

DIAGNOSTICS & SERVICE • 5.5” Touchscreen Tablet with Android 9.0 OS • Optical Scanner Identifies VIN / MMY ITS600 DIAGNOSTICS & SERVICE • 5.5” Touchscreen Tablet with Android 9.0 OS ITS600 DIAGNOSTICS & SERVICE ITS600

• Optical Scanner Identifies VIN / MMY• 5.5” Touchscreen Tablet with Android 9.0 OS • Optical Scanner Identifies VIN / MMY

TPMS SERVICE TOOL • 4 MX-Sensor Programming Methods • Exclusive TPMSStatus Screen TS508 TPMS SERVICE TOOL • 4 MX-Sensor Programming Methods TS508 TPMS SERVICE TOOL TS508

• Exclusive TPMSStatus Screen• 4 MX-Sensor Programming Methods • Exclusive TPMSStatus Screen