Forbes: SimpleTire One of 'Most Innovative Retail Concepts'

SimpleTire, an online tire buying site, was recently featured in a Forbes article that highlighted today’s “most innovative retail concepts.”

Forbes’ retail contributor Richard Kestenbaum says SimpleTire’s cites SimpleTire’s concept as innovative because the company “sells tires but they don’t keep any inventory themselves.”

“You go to their site, enter what tires you need and SimpleTire uses its buying power to find you the best price,” the article reads. “Then you go to the installation center or automotive shop it has found nearest you and the tires are shipped there and installed by the local store. You may say that’s not so innovative, there are a lot of marketplaces selling products in other people’s stores. That’s true but typically not for products that require custom installation on your device by store employees, SimpleTire is unique that way.”

Kestenbaum later cites SimpleTire as “leading customers to automotive installation shops that would not have found them otherwise.”

The concept for SimpleTire was created in 2012 when brothers Andy and Josh Chalofsky were working in their family’s brick and mortar tire store. With business partner Kenny Pratt, they converted a traditional tire sales business model into a technology-driven model, linking independent tire distributors across the country into one seamless e-commerce network.

This month, the company was named one to Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 5,000” list of America’s fastest-growing small businesses.

Earlier this year, Dealer Tire, LLC, a Cleveland-Ohio based tire distributor for car dealerships, made what it called “a significant investment” in SimpleTire. Terms of Dealer Tire’s investment were not disclosed.

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