Beth Barron to succeed Charley Gowland as Chabill's Tire CEO

MORGAN CITY, La. — Chabill's Tire & Auto Service has named Elizabeth Gowland Barron to succeed her father, Charley Gowland, who is retiring as CEO of the Morgan City-based dealership 50 years after he helped found it.

Ms. Barron has worked at Chabill's for the last 26 years in a variety of positions, most recently as vice president of operations and sales. She will take over Jan. 1.

"I plan to continue the tradition of high quality customer service that has been established under my father's leadership," she said. "With the ongoing support of the Chabill's leadership team, we will continue to offer high quality products and superior technical services. We will also continue to look at expansion opportunities."

Mr. Gowland and Billy Parker founded Chabill's Tire in 1968 in an unorthodox series of events. Mr. Gowland, a book-keeper with no auto aftermarket experience at the time, had approached a BF Goodrich Tire sales rep and asked why there were no BFG dealers in Morgan City, Ms. Barron said.

BFG in return approached Mr. Gowland with an opportunity to become its dealer there. He, in turn, invited Mr. Parker, an auto technician, to come into business with him.

Messrs. Gowland and Parker combined their first names Charley and Billy to come up with the iconic "Chabill's" brand.

During his time as Chabill's top executive, the dealership has expanded its scope to 17 locations throughout South Louisiana, including new stores opened in the past year in Port Allen/Baton Rouge and Boutte.

Mr. Parker retired in 2012 and sold his ownership stake to the Gowland family, Ms. Barron said.

The dealership has more than 130 employees at locations in a dozen communities — Baton Rouge, Bayou Vista, Broussard, Boutte, Gonzales, Houma, Lafayette, Morgan City, Prairieville, Raceland, Thibodaux and Youngsville.

With 17 locations, Chabill's is among the 60 largest independent retail tire dealerships in the U.S., according to Tire Business calculations. The dealership's stores average slightly more than $1 million in revenue per year each, split nearly equally between tires and automotive service.

Ms. Barron's sister, Catherine David, is the company's HR coordinator, and her husband Carey Barron is director of operations. The Barrons and Ms. David also have children working in the business.

Ms. Barron will become just the third top female executive of a Top 100 independent retail tire dealership in the U.S. when she takes over from her father. The others are Christie Stock at Associated Tire Stores Inc. in Utah and Denise Littlefield at Stratham Tire Co. Inc. in New England.