Got What It Takes?: New Top Shop Award to Recognize Outstanding Tire Dealer Business
Think your comments and suggestions fall into some black hole here at Tire Review HQ? No, they don’t. A great example can be found on page 24 of this issue: the kickoff of our first Tire Review Top Shop Award. The Top Shop Award concept came by way of a simple reader comment a few
I’ve Got Mail: The Joys of the Internets…or How I Got Rich, Thin, Medicated and Sexy
I won the Australian Lotto. Probably 25 times in the past month, I’ll betcha. And, I’m already wealthy beyond compare, thanks to my winnings from the Spanish National Lottery, the European Lottery and my new best friend, the ex-prince of Nigeria. All I need to do is click my mouse and collect my boodle. How
Stocking Stuffers: Catching Up and Clearing the Desk Before the New Year
As you’d expect, I get a lot of questions about the USW contract talks and the future of North America’s tire manufacturing base. And, as you’d expect, my responses are neutral. Anything else is a pure lose-lose proposition. But I will say this: The USW’s effort to negotiate in the media with Goodyear shows that
Push For Safety: An Open Letter to Tire Dealers and Tire Companies
This letter is addressed to you because, well, if you ever want to get something done, start at the grassroots level. I would have sent this to Congress, but there’s a bunch of new folks there, and they’re busy trying to find the restrooms. I am writing you directly with an important matter: a proactive
The Final Lap: Flag Drops on Tire Competition in Major Race Series
It was a sad, sad day, Oct. 22 was. Mark a big black flag on your calendar. Shed a little tear. When the checkered flag dropped on that day’s Brazilian Grand Prix, it marked the official end of real competition in big-time racing. As of Oct. 23, there is no longer any competition in NASCAR.
It’s What’s Going On: Underestimating Brand Study Bad for Tire Companies – And Dealers
By and large, tire companies are a lot better ‘business partners’ than they were 20-odd years ago when I first broke into this industry. Back in the day, there were some obvious differences between marketers. Some would do anything to sell everything at any time, damn the consequences. Others were a tad more considerate of
Great Googly Moogly: What Are the Hot Tire Search Trends? Just Google It.
Steve Rushin, a columnist for Sports Illustrated, recently explored the wonders of Google’s new Trends service. Rushin put Trends to the test with a series of sports-related terms. He found, for example, that residents of Dublin, Ireland, Google “golf tips” and “Guinness” more than folks anywhere else in the world. Ever wonder what city Googles
Wanted: One Gorilla: Tiremakers Working Toward TPMS Solution, But Standardization Would Help
As a kid, I would regularly tote a sack of vacuum tubes to the local Gray’s Drug Store so my dad could perform search-and-replace repairs on our faithful black-and-white Zenith. If every tube in the bag tested good, it meant dad had to choose between repair or replacement – costly options in the late 1960s.
Gas Bags & Gas Costs: Rolling Resistance Study Lacks Key Answers to Obvious Questions
Government reports always crack me up. Eating too much of something is bad. Talking on your cell phone while driving is bad. Wearing a seat belt is good. For the countless billions spent, these “discoveries” should elicit at least a “Huh, that’s interesting!” before we scarf down another Big Mac while driving without seat belts
It’s Alive!’: Mysterious Technology Breakthrough Yields True All-Everything Tire
My jaw dropped half a foot, I suspect, when I entered The Bunker. It was a laboratory, if you could call it that, a good 20 feet below ground level. Accessible only via well-locked storm cellar doors, The Bunker was a converted Cold War-era bomb shelter dug behind an old barn in Middlefield, Ohio. That’s
Eyes Wide Open: Does Fog of Easy Money Obscure Reality of Car Dealer Danger?
“Some of these guys are really worried,” Bud said, gesturing toward a group of dealers nearby. “But I’m worried that a lot of them just don’t see it.” Bud Hogan, owner of Miller Motors, a tire dealership in Mankato, Minn., is a member of U.S. Tire & Exhaust’s American Car Care Center’s dealer council. He
Winter Vacations?: Making the Most of Dealer Meetings – Without Hangover Blahs
The accumulation of peanut bags in my briefcase tells me that it’s Annual Dealer Meeting time once again – the period when tire companies bring dealers together in one garden spot to rev them up for the coming push. New products are unveiled. Back-orders and low fill-rates are explained. And, promises are made that “things