Point S launches aggressive growth plan

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — The Point S Tire & Automotive Service USA group of tire dealers may be celebrating the cooperative's 40th anniversary this year, but another number is equally important: 555.

Or maybe 5-5-5.

Point S CEO and President Walter Lybeck revealed the group's five-year strategic vision during the 2023 Dealer Conference and Trade Show, held Jan. 26-29 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Puerto Rico.

It's a simple but aggressive plan — grow to 500 locations in all 50 states in five years.

Today, the group's members operate 275 points of sale in 29 states.

"Think about that. That is a massive growth curve," Lybeck told members at the general session. "We think we can do this with the programs we've established, but we'll have to monitor and adjust to change. This is going to create that much larger group we're looking for."

Point S jump-started the process late last year by implementing four initiatives that have resulted in a record 28 points of sale in 2022, adding Alabama and South Carolina to the group's 29-state footprint.

The initiatives, as reported earlier by Tire Business, include:

• An associated dealer program, whereby dealers may join Point S without having to brand themselves with Point S signage. The program comes with two stipulations: The owner has no voting rights; and they receive no patronage from Point S, such as signage, website support or marketing.
• A referral program, in which current owners can earn up to $10,000 if a dealer decides to join and is approved for Point S membership.
• No trouble to double, incentivizing current Point S members with resources to expand their dealerships and add more locations; and
• A retention program, in which Point S offers a bonus to owners who sell their shop to another Point S member, retaining the shop for the group.

"That's our vision for the future," Lybeck said.

Point S is launching an aggressive national marketing campaign featuring Les Stressman — think Flo from the Progressive Insurance commercials — who will appear in just about every medium, selling the Point S slogan, "No Stress with Point S."

Devin Barr and his team at MBT Marketing conceived the "Stressman" concept, which was selected out of several proposals.

The objectives, he said, are to bring in new customers, increase and retain brand awareness, and improve customer experience.

"We are going to leverage the shared strength of the group to support the independence of our local tire store owner," Barr said.

The campaign should roll out in early February.

"We wanted better communication, a better ad campaign. We wanted ways to better service our organization," Lybeck said. "... We're excited to see what is going to come of this."

In addition, Point S is relaunching its website, adding options and making it easier for consumers and dealers alike. It also will introduce a new performance dashboard for members.

The plan, Lybeck said, is to keep growing units, stores and vendor partnerships through technology development, buying power and rebuilding marketing.

Point S also told members that the minimum contribution is increasing to $1,200 from $800, the first increase since 2005. More than $200 of that increase is earmarked for local marketing through Google ads, social media, streaming TV and digital displays.

Last year, Point S said the group's collective sales and net income grew 10% year-over-year, and owners will get back a share of the $7.7 million pot, a record amount.

The group has come a long way since five Northwest independent tire dealers met in 1983, with the intention of banding together to order containers of tires directly from a distributor. They originally were called Tire Factory; in fact, a handful of chains still retain that branding.

"The strength is not our brick and mortar. It's not our inventory," Chris Cornelius, board chairman and co-owner of Clair & Dee's Point S in Rexburg, Idaho, said. "The strength is us. It's you. It's the membership of this organization."