Goodyear's 'Roll by' retail concept takes wing in D.C. metro area

BETHESDA, Md. — Goodyear launched its "Roll by Goodyear" retail tire concept Oct. 26 with a ribbon-cutting at an outlet in the Shoppes of Bethesda in Bethesda.

The store, one of four in the Washington, D.C. area, represents a twist on the oft-cited "location, location, location" mantra by bringing a retail tire showroom — but not the service bays — to vibrant lifestyle areas where busy consumers can select and purchase tires, and even have them mounted and balanced at the time, if so desired, while they go about their day.

In addition to the four Roll by Goodyear locations in the Washington, D.C. area, Goodyear intends to open four more outlets in the Philadelphia area by year-end.

The new stores address consumers' shopping preferences such as simplicity, convenience and flexibility, qualities many of today's consumers seek when making purchases, a company spokesman said in an interview with Tire Business. The idea is to give buyers the opportunity to control the tire-buying process from start to finish.

Rather than inventory racks of tires and offer automotive services, Roll by Goodyear stores in most cases will offer no tire services on site nor have service bays. Rather, they will be stores located in vibrant lifestyle centers, such as outdoor malls, where consumers can stop in to purchase tires and schedule appointments to have them mounted and balanced at their convenience.

The locations Goodyear has targeted for its new tire-store concept are places that offer many things for people to do, such as shop, have dinner, take in a movie, go bowling, etc., the Goodyear spokesperson said.

"It's really the location of these facilities that are key — that is a differentiator from the typical," he said.

The tire maker conducted "significant" pre-market testing prior to introducing the Roll by Goodyear concept. Test results were "extremely favorable across all demographics" but particularly the millennial population and females, the spokesman said.

"Not just millennial females but females who have got a lot of things going on in their lives, and so they are time-starved," the spokesman said.

While millennial females tested off the charts, "if you are time-starved, it's for you. It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like or what your age is."

By design, Roll by Goodyear locations will look and feel different from most tire stores as presently constructed. They will have a modern design, a tire wall featuring Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly brand products and limited furniture.

While offering a comfortable environment, the intent is not for customers to remain in the stores while their vehicles are serviced.

"We're not discouraging people (from sitting there)," the spokesman said. "But the whole idea is for you to do whatever you've got to do while we take care of it for you."

Tire buying will be more consumer hands-on. Instead of initially working with a Goodyear associate, consumers will access information themselves on iPads at the stores. A lot of it is self-guided, the spokesman said.

The customer will provide information about their vehicle, and the iPad will recommend a couple of tires. Associates will be available to help, and "when ready," consumers can buy the tire(s) right there on the iPad.

"It's kind of a seamless experience to what you would experience at home," the spokesman said. "And what you experience at home is going to be very similar to what you experience at the store."

Asked during the ribbon cutting about why someone would come to a Roll by Goodyear store if they can buy the tires online, Fred Thomas, vice president of retail for Goodyear, said today only 7 percent of tire consumers purchase online. It's still new and people aren't certain they are buying the right sizes or the right styles.

At Roll by Goodyear, they can have assurance they are buying the right products, he said.

While the preference is to sell Goodyear brands, if a consumer demands another brand, Roll by Goodyear will sell it to them.

Once tires have been purchased, whether that be in the store or at RollbyGoodyear.com, the next step is to decide on installation.

There are four ways this can be done, the spokesman said.

Drop the keys then and have the tires installed while the customer shops;

1. Set up an appointment to drop the keys at a later time;
2. Set up an appointment for a mobile installation (Goodyear will have three mobile installation vehicles in the D.C. area); or
3. Have the Goodyear valet pick up your car at X location and deliver it back to you at Y location. "They can actually deliver it to a different place than they actually get it from," the spokesman said.

There is no extra charge for these services. Consumers will receive updates on the progress of the vehicle installation by real-time email or text messages.

Goodyear will perform tire installations at area company-owned stores. Independent Goodyear dealers are not part of in the program.

Marketing will consist of paid radio and social media campaigns as well as public relations and other awareness activities, the spokesman said.

Store hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Whether Roll by Goodyear will expand beyond Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia will be based on how the pilot stores perform. Mr. Thomas said the tire maker will get feedback from these locations to see if they are as popular as the surveys say, after which it will decide whether to open more.

"It's just a test," the spokesman said, "but we do feel shopping preferences have changed. and this is a way to meet those changes. We'll see how it goes, but judging by the testing, people like it in concept."

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Miles Moore, Senior Washington reporter, contributed to this story.