Tim Bailey had only owned Joplin Tire Center for two months before a catastrophic F5 tornado ripped through Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011. 
The store was previously operated under another name for 25 years before Bailey bought it from a friend.
“He was retiring and wanted out,” explains Bailey. “I owned the business across the street, so I just bought this one, too.”
Bailey had previously worked in the tire business in college and was just getting back into the swing of things when the tornado hit the small town. Thousands of homes and businesses were torn to shreds, totaling nearly $3 billion in damage.
Bailey’s tire shop, along with the vending shop he owned across the street, were among the businesses leveled.
“I didn’t know the building was demolished until I got to it,” explains Bailey. “It took me two hours to get to it because of all the debris in the way and everything was blocked off. They wouldn’t let anybody go in.”
Thankfully, he says no one was at the shop and none of his employees were hurt.
“It was just a building and you can rebuild it, and that’s what we did.”
Picking up the Pieces
Less than a week after the storm, Bailey was able to move what he could into a small temporary location and get back to work. He says the dealership fixed a lot of flats caused by debris.
“It was big enough for one car at a time and a couple of tires and a tire machine,” he says. “The first day we made $65. That was the first day and after that, it went right back up. We were busy from seven in the morning until five at night.” 
Bailey says his main focus was making sure his employees had a job to come back to.
“The guys I have in the shop now stuck with me through the tornado and didn’t go anywhere. They never missed a paycheck,” says Bailey. “They stayed here everyday. They take care of stuff.”
Despite the adversity, Bailey says he feels more fortunate than many others who were affected by the tornado.
“I had insurance. A lot of people in this town didn’t have it; a lot of businesses didn’t have it,” he says.
New Beginnings
By November 2011, a new shop was constructed where the old one once stood.
The modest garage houses four cars at a time, as well as a few Coats tire changers and Hunter balancers. The waiting room includes a few seats for customers, a TV and a table with magazines.
Two years after the storm, Bailey says things are finally starting to get back to normal.
“Everything slowed down, but we’re steady now,” he says. “It’s going to take years to fully recover. We’re not way up and we’re not down, we’re just right where we should be. It took time for us to get from where we were, in a little temporary building, to the new building.”
He adds what really makes the shop run smoothly are his three employees.
“I don’t have any problems in the shop,” says Bailey. “I’ve got good guys in the shop who take care of everything. I’ve got a good manager. My business is made up of these guys right here; they are what make this a good shop.”
Business Strategies
Unlike many shops that offer both tires and service, Joplin Tire Center remains a tires-only store. Bailey says it also is one of the few that still offers used tires for sale.
“We’re known for our used tires,” he says. “We sell a ton of new, but we’ve also got a quantity of used.”
Bailey says many people simply can’t afford a set of new tires and buying used can save customers 50% or more on the total cost. He’s says he’s glad to be getting customers into something a little safer than trying to stretch their tires past 2/32nds-inch tread depth.
“If you get a used tire on there that’s good, they’re better off then what they were using,” he says.
Bailey adds that the shop checks each used tire by looking for wear and tear and filling it with air to check for punctures.
“And, if something is even remotely a problem, it’s gone, we throw it out,” he says.
Some of the main tire brands Joplin Tire Center sells include Kumho, Nexen, Eldorado, Yokohama and Pegasus.
Rather than using a big marketing campaign, Bailey prefers to attract customers by word of mouth. In the past, the dealership has tried coupons and radio advertisements, but Bailey says any extra effort would take away time from work at the shop, which is his main focus.
“We stick to doing business and taking care of customers. That’s our main thing,” says Bailey. “We get a lot of customers that are ‘rediscovering us.’ They didn’t know where we were when we were at the temporary location. They are all coming back and they like to see us back.”
When he’s not at the shop, Bailey enjoys spending time at the local drag strip, where he does some sponsoring.
“Since the tornado we haven’t really been able to do a whole lot,” he says. “We support the local racetrack; I do a lot there.”
He says the shop’s biggest competition is other small local shops, as well as large discount stores such as Walmart.
While the whole town continues to recover and rebuild after the storm, Bailey says he’s started looking toward the future.
“I’d like to expand to another shop somewhere else, I just don’t know where yet. I’ve got a real good crew here,” he says.
He added there also are plans to add an alignment rack to the shop in the near future.
