As one of the fourth generation owners of Delta World Tire, Paul Bernstein has received plenty of advice on how to succeed in business, but there are a few principles that have stood the test of time.

“Quality, products, excellent customer service and competitive pricing,” says Bernstein. “That was something our great-grandfather tried to instill in the company and I think we continue to do that for our customers.”

The New Orleans-based company was established in 1938 by fur-trader-turned-tire-dealer Abe Bernstein.
“He endured war times, so he started buying and selling used tires from the northeast and bringing them down to the south. That’s basically how the company started in New Orleans.” 

From there, Abe’s sons, Harry and David, joined the business, which transitioned to a wholesale company, dealing Delta tires throughout southern Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

After a few years of building business on the road, the Bernsteins decided to open two additional locations in southwest Louisiana.

Through the years, the company continued to expand into a tire retailer and automotive service store and was passed down to third generation owner Marvin Bernstein (Paul’s father), and then to Paul and his three siblings.

Now, the independent tire dealer has 15 retail locations along southern Louisiana and the Miss­issippi Gulf Coast, a wholesale division and a Mighty Auto Parts franchise.

The 120-employee company features trained and ASE-certified technicians and carries brands such as Michelin, BFGoodrich, Uniroyal and others. 

“Our tire technicians go through the process of TIA certification,” Bernstein says. “We also utilize the Michelin Alliance Program and Hunter Engin­eering for training.  

True Family Affair
The Bernsteins aren’t the only ones to have multiple generations working at Delta World Tire. Sterling Broussard Sr., one of the original store managers, has three sons who manage Delta Word Tire locations in southwest Louisiana and grandsons that work in the business, as well. 

“We treat our employees like family and it means a lot to us that they think so highly of their jobs that they would bring their son or grandson into a role at Delta World Tire.”

Bernstein says the close family ties have been key to the success of the business.

“It’s important that we grow with the right people,” he says. “One thing that we never want to lose sight of is how grateful we are to have the employees that we do. Without them, we don’t succeed; our strength comes from our employees and their abilities to fulfill their dreams.”

He adds that having family members behind the counter adds an extra amount of customer service and satisfaction.

“We pride ourselves on building relationships and having long-term customers,” explains Bernstein. “We manage the business in a way that allows our managers to have a lot of autonomy and be able to make good decisions at the counter to take care of the customer.”

Picking Up the Pieces
In 2005, the Bernsteins, along with thousands of residents along the Miss­issippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast, faced the most difficult time of their lives – the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“With a hurricane, unlike other natural disasters, we knew it was coming a few days in advance so we were able to get out of harm’s way,” Bernstein explains.

The family evacuated to Texas, where they watched news reports as the hurricane made landfall along the Gulf Coast. 

“Initially, we were told the majority of damage was on the Mississippi Gulf Coast because that’s where the eye of the storm had hit, and then because of the storm surge, the levees failed and flooded New Orleans.”

As soon as the threat of danger was over, the Bernsteins came back home to assess the damage. “Our store in New Orleans, where our headquarters was located, was under seven feet of water,” Bernstein explains. “We had four stores on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that had a lot of wind damage. All the bay doors had blown off and the roofs were damaged.”

All together, seven locations suffered heavy damage from the hurricane. Despite the major devastation, it only took a few days for the Bernstein family and many of its employees to get back to work.

“It was truly a blessing that our guys were able to get back and spend a few days cleaning up their personal affairs and were so quick to return to getting Delta World Tire back in order.”

Bernstein adds that they couldn’t have done it without the outpouring of help from several of their sponsors and vendors.

“We had some great suppliers,” explains Bernstein. “Del-Nat Tire Corp., which we’re a member of and have been for many years, sent a truckload of supplies such as generators, air compressors and computers. Our software provider, MaddenCo, sent down Internet air cards, printers and laptops. Michelin had great support for our rebuilding by helping us rebrand the locations that were damaged.”

For several weeks, the stores operated on generators and Internet air cards while chain link fences surrounded the buildings. It took a month before the company was allowed to go back to its headquarters in New Orleans.

“That’s when we began the rebuilding process of the company,” Bernstein says. “We lost all of our files, all of our records and we had to recreate that from the beginning, while also getting our personal lives back in order. It took about 18 to 24 months before we could really say that we were finished putting the pieces back together. We still had lots of work to do in our communities and some of our employees had to live in temporary trailers behind the store, or in a facility.”

Community Outreach
With a majority of New Orleans back to normal, Bernstein says there’s always work to be done and he en­courages personal and professional involvement.

“For me personally, I serve on the board of the Independent Louisiana Tire Dealers Association, I’m on Michelin’s Dealer Council and I’ve been president of that dealer council,” he says. “I serve on the board of the Better Business Bureau and I’m active in school events, playgrounds, chambers of commerce, entrepreneur groups and different things like that.”

Through the Uniroyal Soccer Program, Delta World Tire has donated money and soccer balls to 12 youth soccer leagues for the past several years. “Our technicians coach their kids’ teams and we will sponsor their teams,” he says. “We encourage all of our managers to be involved in their own communities.”

Early on, Marvin Bernstein provided land behind one store location to start a little league baseball program, using tires as the homerun fence. Delta World Tire also hosts a blood drive, offering a free oil change to anyone who donates blood.

“We’re really community-based,” Bernstein says. “Early on, we established ourselves in the community, and being involved in the community that supports us has really been an important part of our business. I would say that’s a really big piece of us.”

That relationship with the community has paid dividends for Delta World Tire over the decades, and most certainly when everyone pitched in – companies and customers – to help each other through the Katrina disaster.

That’s a connection the Bernsteins and their business family don’t plan to ever break.