FAMILY-RUN BUSINESS: Ace Tire's family roots run deep

MIAMI (June 13, 2016) — Rubber may run in the veins of veteran tire dealers, but it seems to be imprinted in the DNA of the Ginsberg family, which has been involved in the tire business since tires were first sold.

The Ginsbergs operate Miami-based tire wholesaler Ace Tire, and can trace the family business roots back five generations to 1911 when Henry Ginsberg emigrated to the U.S. from Russia and soon after opened a vehicle service shop in New York City. Since tires and automobiles were rare in those days, his descendents think he may have started out shoeing horses before transitioning into tire sales and repair.

Through the ensuing decades the family business underwent several expansions, name changes, sell-offs and re-inventions.

While the family operated several tire businesses over the years, it held to one philosophy: A multi-generational family-run business has the added advantage of accumulated experience that is passed from one generation to the next, according to Henry Ginsberg's grandson, Daniel Ginsberg, 80.

He retired in 1996 but still visits Ace Tire four days a week to lend advice to his two sons, who now operate the wholesale/export/retail tire business in Miami. Two of his grandsons, representing the fifth generation, are now involved in the business, as well.

The major challenge of a family business, according to Richard Ginsberg, president of Ace Tire and son of Daniel, is “being able to get along with one another.”

“It is a challenge...,” Daniel Ginsberg admitted, adding, “The goal was originally, from the very beginning, to be successful. And that's the impetus for the whole thing. You get along because we're all here for one purpose—to make the business successful.”

They acknowledged there has been friction at times between the generations and their decisions.

“The way it has worked in our family is that when one generation, like myself for example, is active and solely in charge of the business, most of the direction was taken by the next generation. I was not necessarily only their father but I was their boss. I ran the company until I decided to retire.

“And now, for example my sons, who have their sons in the business—they are the boss and their sons are working for a company. Whether or not their fathers are the boss at this point, they (the sons) have to adhere to certain standards,” Daniel Ginsberg said.

“Now we've been very lucky. We didn't have infighting within any of the generations that I know. I am sure that in many family businesses you're going to get the next generation and they're going to argue and fight and so on. I would say that if people cannot get along then it's not a good idea to continue something because a business generally is only there to make money.

“You can't have a successful business if you have infighting within the company, especially a family situation. We have been either fortunate or did the right thing by the next generation. They always were adequately compensated until they took over and they are doing the same thing for the next generation.”

The Ginsbergs don't have a formal succession plan for the business, he said.

“We don't want it to be that formal because it's a matter of trust. I believe very much in trust. We've been fortunate because, down through the years, my father and his brother always got along and made the business grow. My brother and myself, we made it happen. Sure you have an argument. It would be crazy for me to say you don't disagree with things, but the goal that I always looked at, and I believe my father also, was to make money,” Daniel Ginsberg reiterated.

“What is a business for if not to be successful financially for many people? We all have wives and mothers and fathers and it's a challenge. Business is not easy. However, we have been fortunate in getting our family to—let's call it, agree enough, so that we can continue this thing on.”

The elder Mr. Ginsberg recounted for Tire Business the history of his family business:

First generation:

Henry Ginsberg opened a store in mid Manhattan on the east side, which he operated for about 20 years selling tires and related services. Flat tires were fixed literally in the street as “there weren't many cars in those days,” Daniel Ginsberg said.

Second generation:

Henry's three sons, William, Harry and Sam, eventually joined the business.

William expanded the business by opening a tire shop in the Bronx, called William Ginsberg & Sons. His brothers Harry and Sam moved to another location in Manhattan's upper west side in the early 1930s, which they called Inter City Auto Stores. The elder Mr. Ginsberg oversaw the three intertwined operations until his retirement. 

Third generation:

Sam's sons, Daniel and Stanley, expanded the upper Manhattan Inter City business to eight locations in northern New York State and New Jersey. Stanley was in charge of the Rockland County location while Daniel operated a store in East Patterson, N.J.

In the 1970s the family decided to expand the business to the warmer climes of southern Florida. In 1972 Stanley built a store in Sunrise, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale, while Daniel continued to operate the Inter City stores around Manhattan and open more stores around the state.

By 1980, the business — now called Inter City Tire & Auto Center — had nine stores in New York and New Jersey and a large warehouse in Montvale, N.J., Daniel Ginsberg said.

Meanwhile, Stanley expanded Inter City to nine stores in southern Florida and developed an export business.

In 1980, Daniel sold the Inter City Tire stores and warehouse in New York and New Jersey and moved to Florida.

“There was an explosion in southern Florida in business and real estate values, so I decided to come here and join the operation in Florida and grow this situation,” he said.

During the 1980s, Inter City in Florida expanded to 12 retail stores, ranging from Miami to Palm Beach County, and its export business to Central and South America “was booming,” he said. The business developed into a large export and wholesale operation, he said.

Stanley oversaw the export side of the business while Daniel was in charge of the wholesale operations, which was named Acme Tire.

Fourth generation:

Daniel's three sons, Henry, Alan and Richard, and Stanley's son, David, eventually joined the business.

In the 1990s Daniel Ginsberg sold the Inter City retail stores to another individual and sold the Acme Tire wholesale business in 1996 to ITCO (now American Tire Distributors Holdings Inc.)

Daniel retired and his three sons, due to a three-year non-compete agreement with ITCO, decided to sell tires directly to users, with the intent of eventually getting back into the wholesale business.

When they started a new wholesale business, they dropped the “m” in Acme Tire Wholesale and called the new business Ace Tire Corp. “and it's a thriving wholesale tire business in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties,” Daniel Ginsberg said. The business has 10 trucks and one retail store connected to the 75,000-sq.-ft. warehouse, which stocks about 40,000 tires.

Henry ran the retail store; Richard, and Alan currently operate the wholesale and export operations of Ace Tire. The company has 35 employees.

Meanwhile, Stanley and his son David headed Inter City Tire Export, which sold tires in 40 countries in South and Central America, until selling the operation to Sumi-tomo Rubber Industries in 2009. Stanley died soon after and David retired.

Fifth generation:

About two years ago Richard's son Michael, and Alan's son Brian, graduated from college and decided to join the business and are involved in the wholesale business.

Today Ace Tire's business involves 75 percent wholesale, 15 percent export to Central and South America and the Caribbean, and 10 percent retail. Ace Tire distributes to local tire stores and dealerships in southern Florida, with commercial truck tires a significant part of the business, along with OTR, industrial and farm tires, according to Daniel Ginsberg.

The company is focusing on wholesale, he said, because the retail tire market is “very crowded” in southern Florida.

“We being one of the largest wholesalers, there's a terrific demand for tires by these stores that we sell to. We're the distributor and the stores depend upon us,” he said. “We have 12 trucks that deliver twice a day to each county that we go to. In other words, it's a high volume business.”

The company is planning to offer a third daily delivery that it calls “hotshot delivery service” where customers can, for a fee, order a certain amount of tires for delivery within two hours.

“To small stores, if they need four tires and they want it today and they are past their (order) time, that's an important thing because for the small stores, one sale is a big deal. So we're thinking of doing that,” he said.

Mr. Ginsberg said the wholesale business conducts a large percentage of its sales on its e-commerce site.

The company is not involved in online retail sales yet, but he acknowledged that many people buy tires over the Internet. “One of biggest things that changed in the business has come from the Internet,” he said, adding, “As this progresses with the fifth generation, we're seriously looking at going into Internet, also.”

Based on a lifetime of experience, Daniel Ginsberg's advice to other family business owners is succinct: “Try to stay alive long enough so that you can teach one generation to the next because everybody has to learn. And then each generation comes up with their own plan and idea.

“The advice to give is, if you feel that the business has growth potential and if the next generation has an interest in the business, don't discourage it.

“A family business is a very good thing if the members of the family heed to the generation that is still there and follow and learn from them. That's not to say that the next generations should not come up with their own ideas. Today, with the technology, there's a lot of new ideas that we're getting from the fourth and fifth generations,” he said.

“It's a good idea from my point of view,” added Richard Ginsberg. “My father has a lot more experience than I do. So it's a good idea to keep your mouth shut and your ears open and just listen and gain as much knowledge as you can from someone who has a lot more experience.”

“That's a good point that he brings up — experience,” Daniel Ginsberg continued. “As each generation went on, I learned from my father, Richard learned from his father, and I think my father learned from his father.

“That doesn't mean you have to follow exactly what they say because Richard doesn't do what I advise him many times. He's in a position to do what he wants to do. But experience from one generation to the next helps a great deal.”

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To reach this reporter: [email protected]; 330-865-6127; Twitter: @kmccarr