When we pass from this life to the next, we desire to leave our legacy… about how we affected the world, encouraged others, and improved lives.
We hope that we impressed others in such a manner that someone, anyone cares enough to tell our story.
—John Turk
Joan and Ed
Ed asked one of his best friends, Frank Andrews, as he pointed to a girl at the dance, “Who is that girl?”
“Oh, I know her,” said Frank. “She went to Saint Ignatius Grade School with me. Let me introduce you.”
So Joan A. Dever met Edward J. Conrad Jr. during the “Duck Waddle” dance. They were both fifteen years of age at the time. They dated through high school.
Joan and Ed went to the bank with $7,250 cash in a brown paper bag. They walked into Fairview Savings Bank at West 224th and Lorain in Fairview Park, Ohio, and obtained a $12,000 loan for their first house, located at 4200 West 227th Street. Edward J. Conrad III was born on September 30, 1956. Throughout their lives, Joan and Ed were blessed with four children.
Joan and Ed mailed out seventy-five letters to various franchise programs focusing on shoes, restaurants, and tires. When they received a response from the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, they felt it was the opportunity they were looking for. The manager of Goodyear’s new franchise program, James (Jim) Barnett, interviewed them for the opportunity. Jim later became an executive for Goodyear, and he remained a lifetime friend.
“John Turk joined the business, then I had a heart attack.”
Joan A. Dever’s parents, Bridget Delia Lavelle and James Patrick Dever, were born in County Mayo, Ireland. They met in their late teens, after their families crossed the ocean separately and entered the United States through Ellis Island in New York.
Bridget came to the Cleveland, Ohio, area to live with the friend of an aunt in Elyria, Ohio. James originally went to the Chicago area but moved to Cleveland to be near the people he knew from Ireland.
Bridget and James met in Cleveland and were married on December 1, 1923. Joan, born December 27, 1931, was Bridget and James’s fifth and last child.
Joan grew up on West Boulevard with her three brothers, James, John, and Eugene (an older sister passed away as a child, before Joan was born). Between Joan’s seventh-grade and eighth-grade school years, the family moved to West 131th Street. She was so determined to finish school with her friends from the old neighborhood that every day she would ride a streetcar and take a long walk to get to school. Joan graduated from Saint Ignatius Grade School in 1945. For high school, she entered Saint Joseph Academy, where she was president of the junior and senior classes.
Upon graduating from Saint Joseph Academy, Joan received five college scholarships. One of these scholarships was to Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, which she chose to attend. With future marriage and a business career in mind, she left college and began working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in downtown Cleveland.
Edward J. Conrad Jr.’s parents, Marie Margaret Saint John and Edward J. Conrad Sr., met while living in Cleveland. They were married at Saint Patrick’s Church on June 23, 1926. On May 24, 1931, Edward J. Conrad Jr. was born as the second child. His siblings included two brothers, William and Dennis, and a sister, Jeanne.
Ed grew up in the West 48th and Lorain area and attended Saint Patrick Grade School. For high school, Ed attended Saint Ignatius, graduating in 1949. In high school, Ed played basketball as a freshman. During his freshman and sophomore years, he played in the band. In 1946, the forty-five-member band played for the half-time show at the Charity Game in Cleveland Municipal Stadium. “It was ten below, and the best trumpeter had a frozen trumpet, so I gave him mine,” Ed recalled. “Now there I was strolling down the field holding my trumpet to my mouth and pretending I was actually playing it.” In his junior and senior years, Ed boxed. Throughout his high-school years, Ed worked many jobs, including setting pins at the bowling alley his parents ran, delivering newspapers, and shining shoes.
Conrad’s Religious Goods, 1952. Now it’s the site of Sullivan Gym, St. Ignatius High School, 1911 West 30th Street, Cleveland.
In 1946, Father Kelly, a priest at Saint Ignatius Parish whose two sisters owned a religious-goods store, offered the store to Edward Sr. The family purchased the inventory for $5,000 and rented space for $45 a month. This was the beginning of Conrad’s Church Goods, Inc. After finishing high school, Ed joined the church-goods business on a full-time basis while attending John Carroll University at night, majoring in finance and accounting.
23, 1951.
Joan and Ed started dating in high school, where they were king and queen of the 1949 prom. Joan and Ed’s relationship deepened, and they married on June 23, 1951, which was Ed’s parents’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
Ed Jr. as a member of the U.S. Army, in Fort Hood, Texas.
Left to right, standing: Palmer, Smith, Dodson, Moorehouse, Ed Jr.; Kneeling: unknown
Christmas leave, December 25, 1953. Ed Jr. served in the U.S. Army in Fort Hood, Texas, from 1953 to 1955.
In March 1953 Ed was inducted into the United States Army to serve in the Korean War. Ed served his military service at Fort Hood, Texas. When Joan came to visit, they lived in Killeen, Texas. Ed served as a Sergeant Major in the Adjutant General’s office processing court-martials. In March 1955, Ed was discharged from the service. While serving, Ed was on five levies to go to fight in Korea, but he was always involved in a court-martial at a critical point so his Korean orders were cancelled!
The new Conrad’s Church Goods, opening day, March 1955.
In March 1955, Ed was discharged from the service and returned to Cleveland to be with Joan. He rejoined his parents back in the church-goods business. The business grew, but in 1963 the Vatican Council II brought changes to the industry. While the business could support Ed’s parents in the manner they wished, Ed could see that it would not support all the family members then involved. Ed approached his parents and told them he was going to strike out on his own.
Ed started out in 1965 by running automatic car washes while still working for the church-goods business. Soon he and Joan began putting their efforts into more significant business opportunities.
While pouring their energies into the church-goods business and exploring other opportunities, Joan and Ed welcomed Edward J. Conrad III into the world on September 30, 1956. Ed III spent his high-school years at Saint Edward’s High School, and then graduated from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan.
Edward III was born September 30, 1956.
Ed III worked for the family business for a short time. He married Linda D. Cole on June 23, 1979, on his grandparents’ and parents’ wedding anniversary. Then, in the same manner as his father, he left the family business and, with his wife, created Monogram Corner. Located in northeast Ohio, this retail clothing and gift chain used inhouse computerized monogramming machines to personalize items for customers.
Later, Ed III and Linda sold Monogram Corner and moved to Orlando, Florida, to work with the Disney organization. An opportunity for Linda at Coca Cola in Atlanta, Georgia, brought them closer to home. In 2009 Linda and Ed returned to nearby Akron, Ohio, where Linda is president and executive director of Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.
Two years to the day after Ed III’s birth, Mary Joan (Mary Jo) joined the family. Mary Jo attended Magnificat High School. Later she moved on to Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. Mary Jo finished her education by attending law school at Akron University and passing the bar exam. She married Michael C. Morse on August 16, 1980. After working in the trust department of Old Phoenix Bank, she became a partner in the law firm of Palecek, McIlvaine, Hoffmann & Morse.
On December 15, 1960, Sharon Marie joined the family. Like Mary Jo, she attended Magnificat High School. After graduation she spent two years at Boston College and later graduated from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. While working at Price Waterhouse, she completed the certified public accounting exam, became a CPA, and later became a certified financial planner.
To make the family complete, Robert J. arrived on November 1, 1963. Bob graduated from Saint Ignatius High School and later from John Carroll University, where he finished in 1986 with a business major. Bob married Laurel A. Dinallo on August 1, 1998. Bob has enjoyed a successful career in the investment industry and is currently a partner at the investment firm of Manning & Napier, headquartered in Rochester, New York.
23,
From the basement of their home, Joan and Ed mailed out seventy-five letters to various franchise programs, focusing on shoes, restaurants, and tires. Ed contacted five major rubber companies in December 1968, including the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. When the couple received the response from Goodyear, they felt it was the opportunity they were looking for. The manager of Goodyear’s new franchise program was James (Jim) Barnett. Jim interviewed them for the opportunity, and he became a lifetime friend.
Jim Barnett shared these thoughts: “The purpose for creating the franchise program was to address a decline in the percentage of business Goodyear was doing with the independent tire dealers. We concluded that if we could help new independents get into business, they would stay loyal to us. The idea was to find opportunities for them in smaller, more rural cities, like county seats. That’s why the original stores sold refrigerators and such, because tire stores in county-seat types of cities also sold those items. At the time, Goodyear’s retail-store division was putting up stores, and I thought one of those would be perfect for Ed and Joan. So I went to upper management and fought for a store for Joan and Ed, and they told me I was sticking my neck out; but Joan and Ed proved me right.”
I went to upper management and fought for a store for Joan and Ed, and they told me I was sticking my neck out; but Joan and Ed proved me right.
—Jim Barnett
By August, Joan and Ed were operating their first store, in the Midtown Plaza in Parma, Ohio. Ed enjoys sharing the story of when Tom Mart, Goodyear’s territorial representative, met with him to put together the opening tire-inventory purchase, known as “the grand opening package.” Ed asked Tom, “What happens if the business doesn’t work?” Tom pulled out another form and said, “Then we have the grand closing package.” It’s probably funnier today than it was back then.
As Ed III recalls, “I can tell you that one of my most cherished pictures is the one taken of my parents standing in the showroom at our Midtown Plaza store [see image to left] before we opened for business.”
As the new store began to settle into a routine, Ed worked the store while Joan worked in the office doing the payroll, paying the bills, and (along with Ed) meeting with the accounting firm.
Working in the store, Ed enjoyed sales and liked meeting customers. He also spent time in the service department. In addition to selling tires like the All-Weather 4 and the Marathon 83, at that time the store also sold refrigerators, stoves, deep freezes, stereos, and many other items that were known as white and brown goods.
In early 1971, Jim Barnett called Ed Jr. and asked if he would be interested in taking over the North Olmsted store. Jim explained that the store was continuously losing money for Goodyear, but perhaps Ed could turn it around. Ed immediately answered, “I’ll take it.” That evening, when Ed shared the story with Joan, she said, “Let’s go for it.”
“Transferring stores to dealers was not something we did, especially not stores losing money,” said Jim. “I had another go-around with upper management, the credit team, and the legal department. Again their response was, ‘Jim, you’re sticking your neck out,’ but again Joan and Ed proved me right.”
Within a short time, the development of a major mall, office building, and interstate exchange was announced for the area surrounding the store, on land that had previously lain vacant.
Shortly thereafter, Jim Barnett called again. He reported that Goodyear was building a store in Lakewood, Ohio, and asked if Ed would be interested in operating it. This store turned out to be the one-hundredth location for Goodyear’s franchise program, so many executives turned out for the ribbon cutting. After overseeing franchising, Jim Barnett went on to many other roles at Goodyear, including serving as worldwide sales manager for original-equipment tires. To this day, Joan, Ed, and Jim remain friends.
In early 1973, John Yencha and Dennis Conrad both graduated from Xavier University and joined the company. Dennis was Ed Jr.’s brother, and John was Dennis’s college friend.
When asked why he helped with the property partnership, George said, “It
is a matter
of helping a friend and a client. That is what people did back then.”
As 1974 was ending, Joan and Ed needed a place where they could warehouse tires. Along came a site at 14577 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, which was the site of Penrose Tire. Penrose was a retailer, a recapper of tires, and a seller of coal. Joan and Ed knew the property needed work. They also wondered where the money would come from to buy the property and build the warehouse. At the time, neither the business nor the family could finance the acquisition.
The solution came in the form of creative financing with the help of some friends. Four friends stepped forward to provide the loan for the acquisition, and the property was purchased for $298,000. Altogether the five partners included George and Mary Lou Durkin, George and Mary Kay Vaul, and Joan Conrad.
As the accountant for the church-goods business, George Vaul had easily transitioned to doing the accounting for Joan and Ed’s company. “I remember sitting at the dining-room table on Donna Drive in Westlake and working on the books with Joan,” said George. When asked why he helped with the property partnership, George said, “It is a matter of helping a friend and a client. That is what people did back then.”
Redeveloping the property posed some challenges. To feed the tire-recapping operation, the operator had kept ten to fifteen thousand scrap tires on the property. At one point, a Cleveland Press article had discussed the fire hazard these tires represented. Before construction could begin, the Conrad company had to pay for removal of each and every tire.
Next came the building of the warehouse. This was accomplished by building the new warehouse over the top of the existing building and then removing the smaller building later (see image to left). Today, this warehouse continues to function as the company’s main distribution center. A retail store was also developed on the property.
Later, part of the land was partitioned and sold to Earl Scheib’s car-painting operation. After several years, Conrad’s repurchased the land and the Scheib building, and that is where the parts company now operates.
April 8, 1978 . . . progress!
In early 1976, Goodyear offered Joan and Ed its store at the Midway Mall in Elyria, Ohio, and they took it. At this time, the couple decided that they should get into the auto parts business. Their reasoning was this: with the stores they already had and the growth they anticipated, they could take advantage of buying direct, use two-step distribution, and realize better pricing. Jerry Decker was placed in charge of the new and growing business, becoming the first parts-togo salesperson. The parts company was officially incorporated on April 1, 1978, as C.A.W., Inc., short for Cleveland Automotive Warehouse, Inc. Shortly after this, Conrad’s also began wholesaling tires.
Conrad Companies’ third computer system. Modems and multiplexors sit on top of the red Basic 4 computer.
In 1976, the business had no computers—instead, it used an inventory card system. At this time, Gloria Lloyd was hired to maintain the inventory system. “As tires or parts were purchased, sold, or transferred between stores, it was my job to reduce or add the inventory on the cards,” Gloria recalled.
In autumn 1977, an outside consulting firm studied the business and recommended a computerized approach to keeping and retrieving inventory records. In response, the Edward J. Conrad Computer Company was formed, and the company’s first computer was purchased. “The system replaced my manual efforts,” said Gloria. “It was an IBM System 32 with 16K of memory and a 5MB-disk-drive single-user system. The process did not go well, and we parted ways with the statement, ‘We will never own another IBM system.’ And we haven’t.”
Looking for a better computer, Ed and Gloria flew to New Jersey to visit a company called Incosan. “That was my first flight,” Gloria recalls. “This system proved to be much more friendly and managed to keep track of our inventory.”
As the company grew, it became apparent that the computer system needed to do more. “It was not about the hardware, but the emphasis needed to be on how we operated, the software,” said Gloria. “At the time, each of our locations had a clerk whose primary job was to process the invoices, which were handwritten. If you wanted to know what inventory was available, you still called the location to see if it was there.”
The year 1979 marked the beginning of a new software era for the Conrad Companies. Ed teamed up with a local software house that offered a point-of-sale solution for parts. Computer Dynamics supplied the software and hardware and helped customize the software to fit the company’s needs. “With their software expertise and our automotive repair experience and tire knowledge, a new software package was developed,” said Gloria.
In November 1979, the business purchased its first of three BASIC Four systems. “It was powerful and fast,” said Gloria. “From these beginnings, the systems that are in place today grew. The technology and the system have greatly evolved, and we have right alongside it.”
Obviously, much has changed in the computer world and many systems have come and gone, but Gloria has remained with the company.
The business kept growing, and Ed was now responsible for three divisions: the new parts group, the new wholesale tire group, and the five retail stores. Over the next several years under Ed’s leadership, C.A.W. and the tire operations dramatically grew, and more stores were added.
Because C.A.W. was the distribution arm for the wholesale tire business, and most C.A.W. locations were in the back of Conrad tire stores, the businesses grew side by side and pretty much together. By 1980, C.A.W. had locations at Parma, North Olmsted, and Elyria.
C.A.W. innovated in many ways. It was one of the nation’s first companies to eliminate a layer of distribution. C.A.W. purchased its products directly from manufacturers and sold directly to repair shops, thus eliminating the need for jobbers. With the money saved by this innovation, the business was able to add services that others were not. C.A.W. began managing the inventories of its part-stocking customers by determining which items sold best and stocking only those items. Further, when an item to be stocked changed, they replaced the slower-moving item with a faster-moving item at no cost to the installer.
C.A.W. was able to deliver this service through a fleet of parts-to-go trucks. The drivers not only delivered inventory but also provided installers with on-the-spot invoices, information, and credits. In addition, C.A.W. realized that storing parts nearer to installers would enable quicker delivery times. Where room in the back of a Conrad’s tire store allowed, C.A.W. put in a parts location to service its surrounding customers. By combining this proximity with eight-times-a-day delivery, C.A.W. became hard to beat.
To top it all off, C.A.W. provided reward vacations to its best customers. Through the years, C.A.W. staff and customers made many memorable trips to many locations, including Alaska, a dude ranch in Arizona, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and many more. All these competitive advantages allowed C.A.W. to grow so fast that it passed up the Conrad’s tire stores in sales and number of locations.
With the growing success of the parts company, expansion was accelerated. The Strongsville store, which Joan and Ed purchased, built, and leased to the company, began operations in November 1980. It was built larger than most stores to support its sister company, C.A.W., with a location there.
In 1982, the Akron and downtown Elyria stores were added, expanding the company’s wholesale parts and tire businesses into a brand new market. In 1983, the Parmatown store opened, which also contained a C.A.W. location in the rear, along with the Maple Heights warehouse, followed by the Mentor warehouse in 1984.
Asked why they worked so hard and took on so much, Joan and Ed agreed that it was for the security of the family’s financial future. Nevertheless, while Joan had long played an active role in the business, the Conrad family had growing children at home, and Joan needed to pass her accounting duties to others. Manny Salvatore (Istok) and Bob McDonald were added. While Joan didn’t do the books anymore, she stayed involved in many other aspects of the business.
As the 1980s continued, additional stores were added: Vermillion in January 1985, Brunswick in March 1985, and Solon in December 1985. Purchased from Al Harding at AJP Development Company, the Solon store marked the company’s first acquisition of an existing store from someone other than Goodyear. In addition, Jim Barnett’s son wanted to open a tire and service business in Columbus, and he wanted Ed to be his partner and mentor. As with most growth questions, the answer was yes.
In November 1985, the family launched Ultratech, Inc. to pursue some additional business interests, including sunroofs, ground effects for making cars more aerodynamic, and the new field of cellular phones for vehicles. While finishing college, Robert Conrad spent evenings putting together the business. Upon graduating from John Carroll University, Robert became the company’s vice president. Over time, this company evolved, performing sunroof installations in the stores and in car dealerships. Ultratech also sought out products that could be sold through the stores to enhance vehicle appearance.
Over time, some amazing changes happened with each product, and this company evolved. Later, Ultratech acquired the Cleveland-area distributorship for a product line called ARA out of Texas. Eventually the Conrad Companies decided to refocus on retail tires, service, and parts. The Ultratech business was discontinued, but a few products continued to be sold in the tire stores for some time.
By 1986, Ed knew he needed more help to organize and manage all these different operations. He sought help from the marketplace. The help came in the form of John Turk, who had worked with Ed’s daughter Sharon back in her days at Price Waterhouse. When asked why he would leave a career in public accounting to join the Conrad Companies, John stated, “It was Ed, the opportunity, and the desire not to consult but to do.” Both parties made sacrifices to add to the team.
“I remember having lunch at Westwood Country Club,” John said. “The waitress kept coming by and filling Ed’s coffee cup. Throughout, Ed became more animated and passionate about the business and its potential. He was on fire. And I remember thinking, ‘This guy has a caffeine problem.’ Just then the waitress walked by and said, ‘More decaffeinated coffee, Mr. Conrad?’ I realized that this was not caffeine fueled but was his everyday face. It was then that I made up my mind. I thought, ‘This is the type of person I can work for and would want to help.’”
Unfortunately, the help arrived a little too late. In Ed’s words, “John joined the company, and I had a heart attack.”
John remembers getting the call from Ed with news of the heart attack. “Ed asked me what we were going to do. I replied that we would do business. He was going to get healthy, and when he was strong enough and came home, we would focus on the future.”
John’s next memory was visiting Joan and Ed at their home on Richmar Drive in Westlake, Ohio. “The three of us went to the office and spent some time catching up. Ed again inquired as to what we were going to do.” John told the couple that their answers to three questions would determine the future. He would leave them with the first question that night, and he would return the next week to hear their answer, provide question two, and give them another week to think about that one. And then the process would repeat again for question three.
John’s first question was, “Do you want me to grow the business for the long term, or do you want me to maximize its value for sale?” During the first meeting, the three discussed the various issues that affected this decision and the possible effects, and then John left Joan and Ed with their thoughts for a week.
This is the type of person I could work for and would want to help.
—John Turk
For John, this was an interesting time. He’d left a nice career in public accounting to join a relatively young company that had many plans. With Ed’s health challenge, however, the situation was now pushed to a decision that could change John’s career and dramatically affect his family. Nevertheless, John told Ed and Joan that they needed to focus on their personal needs and worry about everyone else later.
At the next meeting, Joan and Ed shared their response to the first question. “We would like you to build the company not to sell but to grow it.” When John asked what had driven them to this conclusion, Joan and Ed’s response was, “So many of these people have been with us a long time. They’ve worked hard alongside us and made sacrifices. It would not be right to pull the plug now.” John Turk was relieved to hear that.
John’s second question was, “What do you expect from the business?” A week later, the answer addressed topics such as economics, employee morale, and company image. Because all the parties involved had the company’s best interest at heart, common ground was quickly found. The financial goals established that day still determine the company’s budgetary goals today.
For his third question, John asked, “What risks are you willing to allow?” In John’s recollection, “The answer to this question was very easy for Joan and Ed to come to. They were entrepreneurs, and I was an accountant. What they were willing to live with riskwise and had experienced in the past, I was not comfortable with. But you learn.”
A short while later, Ed began the process of introducing John to the company’s various stakeholders, suppliers, bankers, customers, and so forth. During these meetings, Ed always stated the reason for the introduction like this: “John joined the company, and then I had a heart attack.” After a few of these introductions, John asked Ed if he could put a pause or period in the middle of the statement, as “it began to sound like I had caused it.”
So many of these people have been with us a long time. They’ve worked hard alongside us and made sacrifices. It would not be right to pull the plug now.
—Joan & Ed, 1986
In late 1987, the Edward J. Conrad Jr. Computer Company was officially changed to Western Management, Inc.
This created a separate company to house various administrative personnel and resources. With clear and appropriate understanding of what administrative costs would actually be, the operating companies could now plan their futures.
Over time, this structure created better opportunities to add qualified personnel, while also creating economies and synergies for the operating companies.
While Ed stayed involved with the completion of a few real-estate projects, the new team began to grow the companies.
In the next few years, the company built the North Royalton, Westlake, and Seven Hills stores from the ground up. In addition, the company took over the all-new Goodyear facility in Brook Park.
At the same time, C.A.W. was not to be outdone. This arm of the business expanded by opening warehouses in Canton and in Grandview Heights, near Columbus.
Conrad’s main warehouse at Westpark.
The Richmond Heights location was acquired in 1999 from Goodyear along with eight other stores.
Conrad’s at Avon, Ohio.
At the end of 1989, the company was recapitalized for estate purposes. The second Conrad generation came into its own as Ed III, Mary Jo, Sharon, and Robert became shareholders, along with John Turk. At this time, John was named president and chief executive officer. In addition, plans got underway for building new corporate offices on the Westpark campus, with construction beginning in August 1989.
In 1990, the employees of Western Management moved from a cramped space between Westpark’s retail store and distribution area into the brand-new office. While the new building’s two floors added only nine thousand square feet, the design’s newness and openness gave everyone a sense of pride and starting fresh. With these arrangements and management offices in place, the Conrad Companies were primed to flourish in the new decade.
C.A.W. continued to innovate. In late 1990, it formed a parts-distribution joint venture with Kramer Tire Company of Norfolk, Virginia. Called C.A.W. of Eastern Virginia, the venture allowed C.A.W. to expand into new markets with a partner that was also a significant customer. With the growing success of the joint venture in Virginia Beach, in 1995 the company added a location in Richmond, Virginia. Though C.A.W. would leave Virginia Beach many years later, the Kramer organization has remained a good friend to this day.
As the automotive industry’s number of parts continued to grow, C.A.W. locations in the rear of Conrad’s tire stores struggled to find shelf room for all the new parts. To solve this problem, C.A.W. locations began to gradually migrate to sites near the tire stores but no longer inside the stores themselves. In December 1990, a new C.A.W. location opened at Liberty Court in Elyria, Ohio. Other locations that joined this trend included the York Road location in North Royalton, Ohio, and the Parma location, which moved to Brookpark Road.
In September 1991, Conrad’s Tire wanted to continue its growth in the Cleveland area’s crowded western market. The company was able to purchase a car wash in the affluent suburb of Rocky River and convert it into a tire and service store. During this same year, C.A.W. opened a warehouse in Euclid, Ohio.
Conrad’s Tire Service, Inc.’s 2014 internal training room at corporate headquarters, at 14577 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland. To lead this center, Conrad’s has hired a full-time experienced trainer, David Caldwell, to provide constant training to its personnel. Besides the classroom, the training center has working bays for hands-on training.
Conrad’s has coupled these features with the latest and best diagnostic equipment in their stores, truly providing the highest-quality automotive services.
Early in the 1990s, Conrad’s Tire was having trouble getting enough training for its employees. The company’s technical learning needs had grown so much that its training providers couldn’t schedule enough training to accommodate the demand. To solve this problem, the company gave Dominic Umek the opportunity to establish an internal training department.
“We developed the curriculum and conducted entry-level through intermediate-level technical training,” recalled Dominic. “In 1992, customers of our sister company C.A.W., a parts distributor to professional installers, asked to participate in our training, and Professional Automotive Career Training, Inc., was born.”
Known as PACT, the new training enterprise needed some advanced electronics and drivability curriculum that it could not develop in house, so the company purchased the curriculum from AutoTech II, a Michigan-based national training group. As PACT grew, opportunities arose to conduct training outside of the company’s initial geographic area. To take advantage of this, PACT purchased AutoTech II in 1995 and began conducting training throughout the United States and, on a limited basis, in Europe. The company’s wide variety of customers included oil-company service-station groups, rubber-company retail tire outlets, parts and equipment manufacturers and distributors, utility companies, transportation departments, municipalities, and the United States military.
After many years of probing into the training field and trying to manage, plan, and build a first-class training company in a world of uncertain and volatile revenues, the company decided to invest its time and finances elsewhere. By the mid-2000s, it had become clear that PACT’s team members and purpose would be best served if the company became the strategic, growth-supporting asset of a significantly larger entity. With these realizations in mind, PACT was sold to NAPA, the big auto-parts retailer. To this day, however, the Conrad Companies maintain a complete in-house training center.
“Conrad’s provided me with an Ivy League education by giving me the opportunity to start a company from scratch with absolutely no previous experience,” said Dominic Umek. “I cannot stress enough the value of that experience, traveling the country and interacting with a multitude of organizations in and out of our industry. Observing multiple operational formats and their philosophies has provided me a wealth of experiences to draw upon in all the years since.”
In 1992, C.A.W. expanded into the Pennsylvania market by opening a warehouse in West Mifflin. Later in the year, the company also opened in Barberton, Ohio.
In 1994, Conrad’s Tire added another store on Cleveland’s east side in Willoughby, Ohio, and C.A.W. expanded into the Youngstown, Ohio, market. That same year, C.A.W. invested in a Youngstown business called Clarke Manufacturing, which provided starters and alternators to C.A.W. Despite many efforts to assist this company with its operations and growth, Clark Manufacturing could not reach the desired results. The product line was sold to S&H Industries, which discontinued it many years later.
During 1994, Joan, Ed, and John invested time in some planning sessions. They understood that unless the two main distribution businesses—Conrad’s wholesale tire and C.A.W. parts—grew considerably larger, these businesses would become much less efficient in the long term. At the same time, the planners realized that the parts business had been slowing as the industry’s number of parts ballooned, making it harder for one location to stock them all. So they were interested in looking for opportunities outside the parts and tire markets. As the planners viewed the future position of the Conrad Companies, they realized that it would strengthen the businesses to move away from the middle of the distribution channel to either end—that is, to retailing and possibly to manufacturing.
As fortune would have it, in 1995 a friend of Bob’s, Neil Whitford, introduced John and Ed to Wayne Fabian, president of S&H Industries, and possibilities became reality. As a company, S&H Industries was basically a collection of smaller but well-known brand names in the auto-body, productivity-tool, and industrial-tool markets. Separately these small brands had lacked resources, but by bringing them together S&H Industries had created economies and synergies, providing much greater resources and brand power.
In 1995, the brands included ALC, Keysco, Majestic, and Cargo Lok. While each of these brands contributed to S&H’s success, by far the biggest was ALC, which focused on abrasive blasters and related accessories. Developed in Ohio, ALC is known throughout the United States.
S&H Industries at 5200 Richmond Road in Cleveland.
In May 1996, a newly-formed subsidiary of C.A.W. purchased the assets of S&H Industries. This was a major acquisition for the companies, a significant investment, and a step in an all-new direction. Also in 1996, C.A.W. formed a joint venture with the Toledo-based wholesale tire powerhouse Capital Tire, taking over the operations of Capital’s small-parts program. Today, the Conrad Companies are still friends with the Geiger family, owners of Capital Tire.
Signaling a new effort to expand the company’s real-estate holdings, J.A.C. LLC (which stands for Joan A. Conrad) was incorporated in 1997 as a subsidiary of Conrad’s Tire Service, C.A.W., and Western Management. Real-estate holdings are vital because they bring financial stability to the companies, fueling long-term growth.
The year 1999 marked a turning point for the companies. As a result of the efforts that began in 1995 to change the group’s overall business channel, events were now accelerating and leading to significant change and growth.
In 1999, S&H Industries purchased the assets of two companies: Streamline Dollies and Hammers, in Hickory, North Carolina; and Vantage Maskers in California. Not to be outdone, Conrad’s acquired the Cleveland area’s nine remaining Goodyear stores on June 1, 1999. For years, Conrad’s and Goodyear had been discussing how Conrad’s could evolve and develop enough resources to address the difficulties of Cleveland’s tire market with Goodyear’s limited product line. With these nine stores, Conrad’s retail operation grew by 53% in one day, from 17 to 26 stores.
Four months earlier, Dominic Umek had become general manager of Conrad’s. “Immediately prior to the acquisition, my wife and I had our third child,” he recalled. “There were some initial complications, requiring me to take some time off. During this time, I called in throughout each day, giving directions to our leadership team that was assembling our plan in preparation for the date of acquisition. Within days of my return, the announcement was made. John Turk and I traveled to all nine stores to introduce ourselves, meet the new team members, and answer any questions.”
In order to train the new staff on Conrad’s computers and operating systems, the company asked longer-term associates to volunteer to work at the new locations for a period of time. “From the top to the bottom, our team responded to the call with great enthusiasm and made the transition as smooth as possible,” said Dominic. “The Goodyear store acquisition provided a critical economy of scale to our organization, allowing us to leverage our Conrad’s brand, advertising, and distribution, which dramatically drove us toward the market leadership position we achieved just a few years later.”
Over time, Conrad’s pared down the nine Goodyear-owned stores from nine to six stores, all of which are still operating today. “I am amazed at the opportunities I’ve been provided and the latitude I’ve been given to perform my role,” Dominic said. “I tell people that Conrad’s is a throwback company from an earlier time, when work ethic and willingness to learn and accept new challenges would take you as far as your desire and capabilities could go.”
Following a chance conversation between Joan Conrad and Dorothy Kilty at a friend’s going-away party, the Conrad Companies were able to venture into a whole new area: the manufacture of light-gauge metal springs, stampings, and wire forms for many industries. Throughout early 1999, John Turk negotiated with Karl Ware, co-owner of Ware Industries, to acquire the company. In mid-1999, the assets and operations of Ware Industries were purchased and transferred into a newly formed Conrad company named Elyria Spring & Specialty, Inc. Coupled with the previous acquisition of S&H Industries, this deal helped move the company closer to its strategic goal initiatives. Within a few years, the new owners made a significant investment to purchase two new state-of-the-art wire-forming machines.
When the takeover was first announced to the employees, Rich Osberg, a long-time Ware Industries employee, recalled, “I remember thinking that this would be the third owner I had worked for since I started in 1983. When Tim Kilty and Karl Ware purchased the company, I was working in maintenance. They gave me the opportunity to advance. I worked in all the departments, including the shop floor, the quoting process, spring design, and purchasing. When Ed Conrad Jr. and John Turk walked in, I wondered, ‘Could there be more advancement, or was this the end of my career?’ Over the years, John Turk seems to have warmed to me, and when the opportunity arose, he made me general manager of Elyria Spring & Specialty.”
John Turk featured in SmartBusiness Cleveland in August 2003.
The first big change of the 21st century came on July 3, 2001, when the company sold the assets of C.A.W. to Hutchins C.A.W., a company then based in Buffalo, New York.
This event represented a kind of Independence Day for Conrad’s Tire, marking the beginning of its reshaping into a stronger tire retailer. Since the time that C.A.W. had started in 1978, Conrad’s Tire had been held back from aggressively approaching the marketplace. As a sister company, the retail business was limited in how it could market and who it could hire because C.A.W. and wholesale-tire customers were potentially also retail competitors. With this newfound freedom, Conrad’s Tire became a strong tire marketer again.
In September 2001, S&H Industries began construction on a new addition that would double the building’s size and help house the company’s growing machining operations, expanded inventory due to new products, and the larger inventories required for products imported from overseas.
In 2003 and 2004, Conrad’s Tire added stores in Avon Lake, Ellet, Macedonia, and North Ridgeville, Ohio. In May 2005, Conrad’s grew even bigger by acquiring stores from Painesville Tire & Auto Service and Concord Tire & Auto Repair, as well as a store in Ashtabula, Ohio. These three locations helped Conrad’s Tire strengthen its retail presence in Ohio’s northeast corner. Though Conrad’s later closed the Ashtabula location, many valuable lessons were learned there.
During 2005, the company was in discussions with Jay Ehrenfried to acquire his retail store located on Golden Gate Plaza in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Ironically, Ed Jr. had turned down this location many years earlier, because the company was already overextended with store commitments. In January 2006, Conrad’s took over Ehrenfried’s store. The company opened additional stores in 2008 and 2009 in Medina, Avon, and Reminderville, Ohio; in 2011 in Mentor, Ohio; and in 2012 in Green, Ohio.
This event represented a kind of Independence Day for Conrad’s Tire, marking the beginning of its reshaping into a stronger tire retailer.
In May 2006, S&H Industries acquired the assets of Viking Tools in Lake Forest, Illinois, which made air tools. By adding a new and different set of products, this acquisition continued the S&H tradition of collecting smaller but wellknown brand names. Later, the Viking Tools plant moved to Cleveland.
During the financial meltdown that occurred in the late 2000s, the Conrad Companies overcame challenges while continuing to move forward. The economic environment was more difficult on the manufacturing companies, and a number of people were laid off. But once again our shareholders, our management team, and our people responded with the right attitude and decisions, helping propel us to better times.
We opened our first tire store on Monday, August 18, 1969. To put this date into perspective, Neil Armstrong had walked on the moon about a month earlier, and the Woodstock Music Festival had just ended. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Elvis Presley was headlining at the International Hotel.
During the opening of our Midtown Plaza store in Parma, Ohio, I remember seeing the showroom full of TVs, stereos, appliances, and colored bicycle tires. Midtown’s first service manager was Ron Metzler. He had a late-sixties Camaro Z/28, which he took me for rides in behind the shopping center. It seemed like we were going 100 mph.
I remember our stores selling Goodyear Christmas LPs featuring the singing stars of the day. For those of you under forty years old, LP stands for long-playing record. If you remember Julie Andrews, Doris Day, and Andy Williams singing in their prime, chances are you will recognize them on one of the Goodyear Christmas albums.
When I was thirteen, I would go to the Midtown Plaza store with my dad on Saturdays, where I was given all the housekeeping tools I needed to clean the showrooms and bathrooms. Those were the days when smoking inside commercial buildings was permitted, and I would clean out the ashtrays in the showroom. Judging by the sheer number of cigarette butts I would empty into the wastebasket, I’d say that smoking was practically mandatory.
One of the other duties I had on Saturdays back then was to go to McDonald’s at lunchtime with everybody’s orders. Every once in a while, the guys at Midtown would pick me up and put me in a stack of tires. I would not trade that memory for anything.
I have never taken many sick days, regardless of where I worked. I do remember one summer when I called in sick while working at our North Olmsted store. Thad Radwan, our store manager at the time, answered the phone and said he understood. The following day, I called in sick and told Thad that I felt worse than I had the day before, which was true. He said that I was really needed that day, due to the amount of business. I said OK and, sure enough, showed up about an hour later. The business was always bigger than me, and that day was no different.
Before computers and handheld calculators, we used mechanical adding machines to provide estimates on sets of tires, producing a paper copy that we would give to the customers. Every time we would input a number into one of these adding machines, it would produce a loud noise. The pièce de résistance of tallying up an estimate was listening to the mechanical behemoths calculate sales tax. It would seem to go on forever. I laugh at this scenario even as I write it.
As life continues, sometimes you wake up and make decisions that change your path. In 1984 I left the family business, but I still treasure the memories. My path has led my wife and me to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and back to Ohio. When I left for Florida in 1991, we had roughly a dozen stores. When I returned in 2009, we had roughly thirtyone stores. That’s change.
The reins of president and CEO have been handed over to John Turk. The family and the company are blessed. He has grown the company responsibly since his arrival, which came under precarious circumstances. You see, my father had a heart attack in 1986, around the same time as John’s arrival. We have repeatedly told John that there was no connection. Privately, I still think John needs reassurance.
Every once in a while, the guys at Midtown would pick me up and put me in a stack of tires. I would not trade that memory for anything.
Early in the company history, the stores sold Goodyear-made colored bicycle tires called “Colored Wheels.” These bike tires came in many colors, including pink, blue, green, and white. The tires were the hottest things a child could want for his or her bike. We had them for our bikes, and so did all our friends.
During my high-school and college summers, I worked at the main office on Lorain Avenue. I assisted the bookkeepers with the accounts payable and receivable. We entered all the accounting information on large ledger sheets with carbon paper. These were then sent to Goodyear for preparation of monthly financial statements. It was wonderful training for my degree in accounting.
One of my jobs was to manage all our airplane tires, which were sent to the Cleveland airport, just a ten-minute drive from our headquarters. The most important part of this responsibility was to ensure that each tire’s serial number was correct, because part of this information told you how many times a tire had been retreaded. The airplane tires were very big and took up quite a large part of the tire warehouse.
The summer the warehouse was built, Sharon and I stocked the shelves with parts. This was the summer of 1978, when the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” played relentlessly. I strongly recall listening to that song and feeling like a beast of burden as we stocked the warehouse shelves with the boxes of wheel weights, which were quite heavy. I was in great physical shape that summer—no need to work out at the gym!
I remember my parents calling me and telling me that they were giving me shares of company stock and establishing a new board of directors, on which they asked me to serve. I also remember the first board meeting I attended. It was then that I truly realized that the Conrad Companies were becoming larger and more sophisticated organizations.
We entered all the accounting information on large ledger sheets with carbon paper. These were then sent to Goodyear for preparation of monthly financial statements. It was wonderful training for my degree in accounting. —Mary Jo
Ihad two tasks that I had to do to help out the family. First of all, I had to cut out and date all tire ads from all local newspapers. By the time I was done with this arduous task, I had clippings everywhere and my hands and face were covered with newspaper ink. And of course, all the ads were found in the sports section since, c’mon, we know that only men were qualified to choose the family tires or arrange repairs for the family wagon back in the 1970s.
My other job was to go though boxes of green slips and write down any numbers that were missing in the sequence. Green slips were Conrad’s record of each sales invoice. I did not understand why we did these things until later, when I eventually became a certified public accountant and joined Price Waterhouse. But all I knew at the time was that working did not allow me to join my friends at Baskin-Robbins for ice cream.
When my dad built the big C.A.W., Inc. warehouse in the late 1970s , he needed cheap labor to put away the inventory. For my friends and me, this was how we spent the summer of 1978. My other job with Conrad’s earned me the infamous title of “Posto,” since all I did for days was post tire and parts inventory coming and going from the warehouse. When I was sixteen, I greatly welcomed the arrival of Gloria Lloyd. Much has changed since then.
When I was away at college, the business continued to grow and my parents got to do some traveling with Goodyear. When I graduated from college, they came home early from their trip to China to attend my graduation in South Bend, Indiana. Although they loved their business, their family always came first. Their priorities never wavered.
After college, I took a job at Price Waterhouse. And just my luck, I had to help with the tire inventory at General Tire. I soon moved to Price Waterhouse’s small-business tax department, where I worked with the team of Steve Perney, John Turk, and Kathy Riley. We were “Perney’s Pencil Pushers,” and we worked hard but had a lot of fun. I can remember telling my dad, “No matter what time I get in to work, John Turk always beats me there. I don’t think he ever goes home.”
By the time I was done with this arduous task, I had clippings everywhere and my hands and face were covered with newspaper ink. —Sharon
Bob and Ed on October 22, 1986, performing tasks related to Ultratech.
My first memory of the tire stores was when I was six years old and my dad brought me to the Parma store one Saturday. I got to spend the whole day with my dad, which was special because my dad worked six days a week, from early morning until late at night. I brought paint and construction paper to keep myself occupied. I sat at the sales counter, where I remember drawing an Indy racecar and then painting it purple. Customers would come up to the counter to say hello, compliment my artwork, and comment with a laugh, “The tire salesmen sure start young here at Conrad’s.”
During high school and college, I worked in various capacities in all our businesses. I delivered auto parts for C.A.W., Inc., in one of our S-10 pickup trucks, mostly out of the Westpark location and then Tallmadge. This was one of the more enjoyable jobs. My left arm was always tan because the window was rolled down all the time. My Cleveland sports knowledge was excellent from listening to AM talk radio all day.
The big decision for me to work in the family business came in 1985. I called my father from my dorm room at John Carroll University and recommended a new business for us to consider. I had read about an up-and-coming technology called cellular. Ed Jr. asked me to look into it and write a business plan that would help us evaluate the opportunity.
The FCC instituted a lottery system to license cellular markets, which allowed independent operators to compete with the formidable Baby Bells. Cellular One won the lottery in Cleveland and became the first independent operator. Our analysis showed strong business potential, so we submitted an application to become a dealer. We were accepted as the second Cellular One dealer in Cleveland. Initially Ed was skeptical about the future of car phones because of the safety concerns and because he thought people would not want to relinquish their cars as the last bastion of peace and quiet.
Additional products for this business included radar detectors manufactured by Beltronics and Whistler and Maxon, which offered the standard dashboard-mounted units or hidden radar units installed in a car’s front grill. One of the best marketing coups was when we won the American Sunroof Company (ASC) franchise for northeast Ohio. ASC electric sunroofs were factory-installed in both Pontiac and Toyota cars and were considered one of the premier
sunroof brands in the United States. When cutting a hole into an automobile, we always worried about making a mistake that would force us to buy the car or make it into a convertible. Fortunately, that never happened.
During my time at the Conrad Companies, I worked in all the business units, performing several functions so I could develop a broad knowledge base in all the organization’s different functions. When I worked in operations, I ordered inventory and managed each store’s allocation. We regularly analyzed the tire inventory to forecast the sales trends of specific tires, so we could establish minimum and maximum quantities to be stocked at each location.
When I worked in human resources, I spent my days interviewing prospective employees for many different roles in the organization. Later, I performed other roles, such as serving as marketing manager and launching the C.A.W. telemarketing division.
My time with the companies was the best education I ever could have received in my life. I cherish my relationships with coworkers, customers, and suppliers. My decision to leave the Conrad Companies when I was twenty-seven was extremely difficult. I had always wanted to pursue a career in the investment industry, and I thought I should try it when I was young. I am still in the investment business, but I will always have tires in my blood. I currently serve on our board of directors, and I am spokesman for the tire stores.
Bob loves to tell this story:
If you have ever been to Cleveland and listened to the radio, there is a good chance you have heard a Conrad’s tire commercial selling tires. If you have heard one, you have also heard the famous Conrad’s whisper. The story behind that whisper is, once while producing a new commercial, the producer was looking for a good ending so he involved one of the young ladies from his office staff. He could not quite coax the right sound from her for the whisper, so he told her this story. Pretend you have just gone to a wonderful candlelit dinner with Paul Newman, he has driven you home, you are standing on the front porch and he is saying good bye to you. He wishes to give you a kiss good night on the cheek, but in order to receive the kiss you must whisper Conrad’s in his ear. She shared her rendition and since then the whisper or a variation thereof has been how we end each commercial.
Joan A. and Edward J. Conrad Jr., September 30, 2002.
And the story goes on. Through the years, we’ve evolved and changed, adding companies and selling companies. And yet we stand committed to the same morals and ethics upon which the companies have been grown and managed since they first began.
From our beginnings in 1969, through John Turk’s leadership of nearly 30 years, and now with the Conrad children stepping up for a new future, this organization has never been anything short of outstanding. Our growth and performance have fulfilled the hopeful answers that Joan and Ed Conrad gave to John Turk’s three key questions so many years ago. More important than what we’ve done is how we’ve all done it together, with such rich goodness.
Over the past twenty-five years, the companies’ sales have grown an average of five to six percent per year, and the business has met its goals for return on equity. Today, the organization consists of four main operating companies, a real-estate company, and a management company—all staffed with many wonderful people. By the time this book is completed, we will have added additional stores to the Conrad Companies.
We appreciate everyone who has touched our lives, and we want you to know that we’ve truly enjoyed creating this story with you. We’ve mentioned some names, and we wish we had space to mention all the names. More could be said, but perhaps it all comes down to those words our parents taught us that sometimes get lost in the rush of the day:
Thank you!
Every Conrad’s Tire store provides a free air station for customers and non-customers alike. Free air is available 24 hours a day.
