Focus on dealers
Matt King (left, pictured with Reggie Goodwin, manager of the 100th store) started with RNR as a tire technician. He is now a regional manager.
From wheels to tires RNR Tire Express reaches 100 stores and changes its name By Bob Ulrich
H
urricanes directly affected a number of RNR Tire Express outlets in September, whether they were existing stores or under construction. That includes the recently opened 100th store, located in Sarasota, Fla. But they were back up and running within a couple of weeks, so it’s time to give the milestone store its due. It is one of 15 company-owned stores; the other 85, under the direction of SPF Mgt. Co. LLC, are franchise operations. The brand started out as Rent-N-Roll Custom Wheels and Performance Tires in 2000, with wheels getting the top billing. Seventeen years later, the name has evolved into RNR Tire Express. “We believe the future is tires,” says Larry Sutton, the company’s founder and president.
History repeats itself Larry Sutton previously owned Champion TV and Appliance Rentals, which was his first rent-to-own business. Selling the business in 1997 did not dampen his entrepreneurial spirit, however.
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So he started fresh with Rent-N- Roll Custom Wheels and Performance Tires three years later. “We started out in the wheel business, not the tire business,” says Sutton. “At the time, aftermarket wheels were a $1 billion market and growing exponentially. “Custom wheels were prominent in urban songs and culture. The only reason we sold tires was because they were needed for the upsized wheels.” When Vince Ficarrotta, a former employee of Sutton at Champion TV and Appliance Rentals, came on board two years later, the wheel industry was still on the upswing. “When we started with the wheel model, that was the time when the industry was going through significant growth,” says Ficarrotta, vice president of franchising. He is also the “F” in SPF Mgt. Co., which stands for Sutton (Larry), Petco (Linda) and Ficarrotta. “It just kept growing through the next five to seven years. We kept riding the waves.” He was put in charge of franchising the new rent-to-own concept. Mike Kent, who had been influential in convincing Sutton to start franchising Rent-N-Roll, was the first franchisee.
MTD November 2017
