Lenexa, Kan.--In 2008, Inc. magazine recognized Shore Tire as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing independent companies in the United States. Third-generation Owner Chris Shore said he attributes the success to an increased sales effort in the Kansas City area, opening a new tire warehouse in Westfall, Kan., and working with a great staff of dedicated employees.
Shore Tire’s wholesale business extends to the Colorado line and the western half of Missouri, he said, adding that the new satellite warehouse in central Kansas allows him to better service his rural customers with multiple deliveries.
Five years ago, Shore said he also hired five new outside salespeople to cover the Kansas City metro market, as well as the Topeka and St. Joseph, Mo., areas.
“It was a pretty big risk, especially for a company my size,” he said. “When you are taking on that big of a spike in your payroll, it is a big risk, but it has paid off, and they are doing a great job, more than holding their own.”
Shore said his grandfather Waldo Shore took the initial risk in 1945 when he opened Gillette Tire on Penway in west Kansas City. One year later, the business name was changed to Shore Tire, and by 1970, Chris Shore’s father, George Shore, and uncle John Shore took over the company, moving the business to Signal Hill in Kansas City.
By 1983 the business had outgrown its location and moved to a new warehouse in Lenexa right off I-35, the Younger Shore said. The highly visible location was a means for Shore Tire to grow its wholesale business and enter the retail, service, and repair industry as well, he said.
The service and repair facility, a NAPA AutoCare Center, houses 16 bays--eight for tire work and eight for other service work, Shore said. The retail and service end of the business represents 25 percent of sales, with wholesale representing the other 75 percent, he said.
“Jamie Heddings, our service manager, has done a great job implementing the NAPA programs,” he said, adding that the shop sees about 100 ROs a day, 75 percent of which are tire-related, ranging from a flat repair to four new tires.
Shore said he is constantly working to keep up with the technological advances in the tire industry, including the latest balancing, mounting, and alignment machines, along with tire-pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), and nitrogen inflation machines.
On the wholesale end, Shore said he services more than 600 accounts, some dating back to 1946. An inventory of 25,000 tires is kept at the local warehouse, and another 5,000 at the satellite location, he said.
Shore said he stocks more than 10 tire lines, and Hankook is his biggest-selling brand. “They have a great line of tires, and we are one of the top 10 Hankook dealers in the country.”
With 51 employees companywide, Shore noted that there are not many family-owned distributors of his size anymore--something he sees as a selling point to his wholesale accounts.
“Most of the customers that we have are family-owned companies and a lot of them like to deal with another locally owned family business that supports this community and reinvests in this community, where the dollars are not being shipped overseas--that is something we try to stress,” he said.
