Last August, after facing years of mounting tax debt, tire dealer website developer 50 Below filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Subsequently, in November, a bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of the Duluth, Minn.-based company’s assets, with its "retail division" – the dealer website operation side – being sold to Milwaukee-based ARI Network Services for $5 million.
Since that time, ARI has hustled to assure 50 Below customers that the company won’t miss a beat, and will continue meeting its obligations while investing for future growth.
Jon Lintvet, ARI chief marketing officer and vice president, provided an update.
“There were quite a few bumps in the road for the team and our customers leading up to the acquisition,” he said. “As previously reported, we hired nearly every customer-facing employee supporting our customers and we’ve doubled down in terms of proactively reaching out to engage them, help them make the most out of their website to help them sell more stuff.”
To help customers be successful, Lintvet said ARI is “spinning up the product development resources to quickly begin delivering product enhancements to our customers.”
Other changes are also afoot, he said. “A lot is happening behind the scenes. We’ve consolidated offices and invested in the team’s workspace. We’ve been actively recruiting to put additional resources to accelerate development and to support our customers. We’ve also streamlined reporting and teams. Overall, we’re doing a lot of the things you would expect in an acquisition of this size.”
Looking forward, Lintvet said, “We are working quickly to deliver enhancements to the platform to help our customers sell more stuff. In the next three to five weeks we will upgrade the mobile shopping experience for our customers, rolling out new layouts and navigation options that are based on online best practices, and proven to increase calls, appointments and sales.
“In the next month or two, we will upgrade the tire and wheel search experience and results to enable consumers to package tire and wheels, plus and minus sizing, and more easily find and compare search results. A better shopping experience means more calls, appointments and sales.
“In the next two to three months, we anticipate releasing a new fitment-powered visualizer that enables consumers to see their vehicle and build their preferred tire and wheel packages.”
