Calif. Dealer Joins Female Friendly Ranks

Lloyd’s Tire Service, in Santa Cruz, Calif., is the most recent tire dealership to have received AskPatty.com Female Friendly tire dealer certification.

As part of the process, Lloyd’s employees completed an extensive training and certification process focused on how to best serve women.

"When my grandfather opened the doors here in 1940, most of his customers were men," said Larry Johnson, owner of Lloyd’s. "That’s changed, and now we sell tires and provide auto service to slightly more women than men. Over the last decade, there has been a great emphasis on making our facility more friendly and comfortable for all of our customers, particularly women, so it was a natural progression for us to become part of AskPatty. We look forward to working together down the road to maintain the highest standards of service for female customers."

In conjunction with AskPatty.com, Lloyd’s Tire Service has launched a female-focused micro-site that provides the tools and resources most requested by women. The micro-site gives women the ability to schedule service appointments, access coupons and discounts, and learn more about car buying and maintenance online.

"Women influence 85% of the buying decisions in North American households, effectively becoming the family’s chief purchasing officer," said Jody DeVere, CEO of AskPatty.com Inc. “AskPatty trains and certifies automotive businesses on how to communicate more effectively with women and ensure they feel safe, respected and empowered, which creates tremendous customer loyalty. The on-going commitment by both shows that management is serious about earning their business."

Founded in 1940, Lloyd’s Tire Service is family owned and operated. In addition to Ask Patty, Lloyd’s also is a proud member of the Monterey Bay Green Business Program, and all of its technicians are ASE-Certified for automotive excellence.

Ascot Supply Corporation, based in Newnan, Georgia, has selected Mark Paquette for the newly created position of vice president. In this position, Ascot Supply said Paquette will oversee the growth of the company's products, corporate profitability, manage marketing and advertising and assume many other responsibilities.

He will work under the direction of current President David Kessler and officially begin his new role on June 3. Paquette joined the tire and automotive industry in the early 1980s at his father's tire shop, and his contributions to Mohawk Rubber Sales were instrumental in the company's growth and eventual sale to Myers Tire Supply in 2021, according to Ascot Supply. Paquette eventually was given a promotion to the role of director of operations at Myers Tire Supply.