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Articles about Bob Dunlap, MTD’s 2022 Tire Dealer of the Year Award recipient and the chairman and CEO of Dunlap & Kyle Co. Inc., were extremely popular among MTD readers this past month.

Photo: Joey Brent

Extra! Extra! Read all about our Tire Dealer of the Year

At Modern Tire Dealer, we know readers want to learn the secrets of success of our annual Tire Dealer of the Year award winner. And this year was no different. Stories about Bob Dunlap, chairman and CEO of Dunlap & Kyle Co. Inc. and MTD’s 2022 Tire Dealer of the Year, led the pack for readers of MTD this past month. (If you need to catch up, you can find his story in the September issue of MTD.)

1. MTD’s 2022 Tire Dealer of the Year is Bob Dunlap 2. Nine things to know about Bob Dunlap 3. Bridgestone will sell 51 GCR locations to three buyers 4. How to handle customers who want help ‘right now’ 5. Southern Tire Mart acquires Redburn Tire, 26 GCR locations 6. Pomp’s Tire Service acquires Tredroc Tire Services 7. Market is still absorbing price increases 8. The secret to Dunlap & Kyle’s wholesale success is service 9. Burt Brothers opens 15th store 10. Why Virginia Tire wants to hire more women

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MTD READER ADVISORY BOARD Rick Benton, Black’s Tire Service Inc. Jessica Palanjian Rankin, Grand Prix Performance John McCarthy Jr., McCarthy Tire Service Co. Inc. Jamie Ward, Tire Discounters Inc.

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OUTSIDE FORCES VERSUS STRATEGY

SRNA’S DARREN THOMAS SAYS DOMESTIC AND OFF-SHORE PRODUCTION ARE ESSENTIAL

Darren Thomas may be in the midst of his first year as the leader of Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc. (SRNA), but he says that’s not an indication the tiremaker is changing course.

Thomas, who in January assumed the role of president and CEO following the retirement of Richard Smallwood, says “nothing has changed in our leadership.

“Richard is still very connected to us as a board member. And the team that runs the business on a day-to-day basis, which touches our dealers, (consists of) all the same people — it’s Rick (Brennan), Matt (Leeper), myself, (plus) all our sales people and our marketing people. None of us have changed. Our parent company hasn’t changed. So as far as I’m concerned, for the leadership that the market would see, there is no difference.

“The products that we’re in development of, the strategies we have in place — these are all the same people doing the same jobs. We’ve had some titles change, but in terms of who runs the business, who’s making strategic decisions — we’re the exact same company we were 24 months ago.”

Thomas acknowledges dealers might feel like the strategy for SRNA’s Falken brand has changed, but that’s not because of a new vision. “Those changes strategically are 100% a result of two things. One is COVID-19. Second is import tariffs and the impact of COVID-19 on freight.”

Those are forces that all tire manufacturers are managing, he says.

But what’s interesting to Thomas is how the tire industry allows external pressures to dictate pricing.

“We are — as an industry — oddly enough, heavily influenced by outside commercial pressures. Our willingness as an industry to move on price generally isn’t done out of strategic brand movements. (It’s) done from third-party pressures — raw materials, freight rates, tariffs.

“If we didn’t have COVID-19 and we didn’t have high freight rates, the business would have been doing its standard supply chain strategies (and) standard brand strategies. We all have price benchmarks that we try to index ourselves against and those would have been the prevailing business basis for decisions. But with COVID-19, all of the sudden freight rates became the prevailing reason we modify price. With tariffs, those impacts become another prevailing reason we modify mix.

“It’s somewhat sad to me as a marketer that most of the brands we see in the marketplace made their substantial moves because of third-party pressures and not because, as a brand, they wanted to be in a different place in the market. It just illustrates, as an industry, our willingness to be bold marketers is somewhat poor.

“I would say the Falken brand is probably one of the brands that has been willing to move in the industry regardless of outside pressures, but we are not immune to the significance of the last 24 months’ pressures. So we find ourselves — (and) the majority of brands find themselves — in commercially appropriate price positions today, not necessarily strategically appropriate price positions.”

Put another way, the marketplace’s priorities have trumped strategic priorities.

Still, Thomas doesn’t think SRNA’s course would be much different than it is today. Take the company’s domestic tire factory in Tonawanda, N.Y., near Buffalo, as an example. Would SRNA’s strategy in Buffalo be different today if outside forces hadn’t steered the world’s economy during the last two years?

“I don’t believe COVID-19 has made a significant change in our Buffalo strategy,” says Thomas, who adds that SRNA needs that plant to be “a relevant profit center,” especially given its unique mix of production for passenger, light truck,

“The beauty of this business is all of your competitors are dealing with the same forces,” says Darren Thomas, president and CEO of Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc.

Photo: MTD

medium truck and motorcycle tires — all under one roof.

“Would we like to have more domestic manufacturing? I would say in theory everybody is probably saying that. But in practice, we can list brands that have started North American factories in the last 10 years and not all have been successful.”

Thomas believes North American production is one solution. He also doesn’t expect sky-high freight rates to stick longterm, which means importing tires to the U.S. “is still a very viable strategy.”

That leaves tariffs and Thomas says SRNA expects it can manage and lower its tariffs down to the range of 2% or 3%. In 2021, the rate for Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co. Ltd. was set at 14.62%.

“My personal opinion is (that) a domestic plant is highly beneficial for original equipment production. A domestic plant gives you an advantage in supply chain. Does a domestic plant give you cost advantage? Over the long term, I’m not so sure. In the short-term, yeah — after a global pandemic. But if we think global pandemics are going to be a staple of our economic policy, it’s not.” — Joy Kopcha

Bites

Tyres International expands

Tyres International — the manufacturer of Ascenso brand ag, OTR and industrial tires — has opened a 75,000-square-foot distribution center in Dublin, Ga., which is near the Port of Savannah. The facility, which also will stock and ship Westlake brand TBR and specialty tires, is Tyres International’s third distribution center in the United States. The others are located in Nevada and Ohio.

Wolak to lead TBC sales

Brent Wolak has been promoted to director of sales for TBC Brands LLC. Wolak will lead all sales and growth efforts for the TBC Brands business. He joined TBC Corp. in 2006 as the marketing manager for the company’s distribution division and has moved up into roles that span both sales and business development.

Point S moves into Alabama

The network of Point S tire dealers is growing again as the cooperative of independent tire dealers has expanded into Alabama, its 28th state. Brian Lombardino, the owner of Brian’s Point S Tire & Service in Huntsville, Ala., has joined the Point S network. The cooperative says it has other expansions in the works.

RNR execs win honors

Adam Sutton, president of RNR Tire Express, was named the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations’ (APRO) Dealer of the Year. RNR Tire Express’ Tracy Cintron won the APRO Steve Kruse Award for her lifelong service to the rent-to-own industry. And Candice Hill, a RNR Tire franchisee from Springdale, Ark., took home the organization’s State Association of the Year honor.

Akebono adds parts numbers

Akebono Brake Corp. has added front and rear brake coverage for a variety of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Jeep, Ram and Toyota vehicles. The expansion also includes late-model coverage for the Ram 1500.

ATD celebrates Hercules

American Tire Distributors Inc.(ATD) is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its Hercules brand with a social media giveaway, opportunities for consumers to win Hercules-branded merchandise and more. Earlier this year, ATD refreshed the branding of its Hercules and Ironman lines.

Burt Brothers Tire & Service acquires dealership in Utah

An acquisition has allowed North Salt Lake City, Utah-based Burt Brothers Tire & Service Inc. to open its 15th store in Utah.

The newest location is the company’s southernmost store and it’s located in the hometown of Brigham Young University (BYU).

Jeremy Burt, one of the owners of Burt Brothers, says the company acquired the Provo store from another set of brothers — Lyle and Cory Brereton. Their father had started Brereton Automotive & Tire Co. more than 50 years ago.

Burt Brothers took over ownership of the outlet on Sept. 1. Jeremy Burt says the Brereton brothers plan to “stay on to work and greet customers because they care most about their customers.

“They chose us because we’re both customer-oriented dealers and we put the customer first. They want to make sure that when customers come in, there’s a familiar face for the time being.”

All eight of Brereton Automotive & Tire’s employees have been retained and Burt says more will be added as business growth warrants.

Burt says the store has 11 service bays and offers a mix of tires, along with a full menu of automotive repairs. It also services a good number of fleets, including construction and delivery fleets that service the local community.

The store is currently undergoing some remodeling and updates to the showroom to make it match the comforts of other Burt Brother locations. Burt says all new shop equipment has already been installed.

“We’ve always wanted (a store) in the Utah County area. A lot of our current customers have their kids down at BYU,” he says, and they’ve wished for a nearby location to serve their college-aged children.

There’s even more growth on the horizon. Burt says in 2023 the dealership is planning to begin construction on a new store in Tooele, Utah. And there are other new store builds and acquisitions in the works.

Bridgestone will invest $60 million in tread rubber plant

Bridgestone Americas Inc. is investing $60 million in its Bandag tread rubber manufacturing plant in Abilene, Texas. The infusion will increase the plant’s output by 16% and will include a 50,000-square-foot expansion.

The investment — which includes the construction of new mixing operations — is necessary due to “growing demand for the company’s Bridgestone is expanding its Bandag tread rubber tread rubber products, driven manufacturing plant in Abilene, Texas. by the rapid growth of its Photo: Bridgestone Americas Inc. retread business,” according to Bridgestone officials. The Abilene plant marked its 50th year in operation in 2021. It currently spans 200,000 square feet.