After another year of expansion, the member-owned co-op projected confidence moving into 2018, touting measurable progress that ranged from improved dealer satisfaction to a healthy sales growth across the organization.
“Our member-owned co-op achieved over 8% growth in sales for 2017,” Point S CEO Walter Lybeck said. “We contribute this success to being able to bring our members unique programs and tools to position them for success. The Point S brand is contemporary and relevant in providing a better customer experience for our members, and it’s the support we get from our Point S preferred Partners that helps make that possible”
“This is our time to focus on growth,” added Eric Gill, chairman of the Point S board. “The board and leadership team are focused on three key areas in 2018 – growth, technology and protecting our brand. We know that if we can bring value in each of these areas, we’ll be position for long-term success.”
The event was a chance to get the independent, far-flung Point S dealers into the same room, which is a major advantage of the meeting.
“When we get (the co-op owners) all together like this and you have 70-plus percent participation in the ownership of this group here at the meeting together, it always is healthy and they don’t hold back their questions and our shareholder meetings are wide open,” Lybeck said. “It never fails that they just show their commitment to our group when they’re here.”
At the opening meeting, Lybeck and the rest of the Point S leadership team updated the audience on the ongoing growth and improvement strategy. In addition to adding 20 new locations, with the expectation of another year of growth, the company also announced a new warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee which opens a new market that Point S expects to be a major source of growth as the company expands eastward.
The newly expanded distribution center will not only serve as a hub for delivering tires, it’s a key element of satisfying the delivery expectations of independents that might be interested in coming into the Point S fold, said Clint Young, director of business development for Point S.
“We’ve been very particular about where our next move is. We’ve done a lot of due diligence in that regard,” Young said. “It’s not a chicken or the egg concept when it comes to growing our business. It’s difficult to go out and recruit new dealers to come on board if you can’t get them tires.”
On Friday, the owners sat down for their annual shareholders meeting before spending the afternoon at Universal Studios, including exclusive access to the park’s “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” section, which included a laser light show that wowed the crowd.
Saturday provided the opportunity for Point S partners Hankook, Nokian, Michelin and Goodyear to present product workshops, which was followed by a vendor show held in the Hilton Universal City hotel, and series of business sessions. The meeting was capped off with a final celebration dinner at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
