RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico
Chris Cornelius summarized his main job duty as chairman of the Point S Board of Directors this way:
"Here's the baton. Don't screw it up."
Cornelius, co-owner of Clair & Dee's Point S in Rexburg, Idaho, officially became chairman of the Point S board of directors during the cooperative's annual owners' meeting, held Jan. 26-29 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Puerto Rico.
Cornelius succeeded longtime chairman Eric Gill of Gills Point S Tire & Auto Service of Portland, Ore., during the shareholders' meeting.
"We've put the last four years putting a structure in place that for the next four to eight years, we're going to see exponential growth," Cornelius told Tire Business. " My job is just to hold true to what we've put in place. I'm not changing anything."
Point S, he said, has made it a priority to help the independent tire dealer succeed in an ever-changing landscape.
"I do not see anything that even comes close to our baskets of goods that we bring to that independent dealer," Cornelius said. "If we say who truly wants the independent dealer to be successful, it's Point S. Every other organization is worried about the profitability of their organization. We are worried about he profitability of the dealer and then surviving the next generation."
Cornelius said the marketing cooperative wants to "save that independent dealer while he still has a heartbeat. Let's not wait until he's failed."
Point S also welcomed three other dealers to its board of directors: Nick Fox of J&J Point S; Capital Point S and Jerry Noble Point S Tire & Auto in Helena and Great Falls, Mont.; Wade Frey of Bountiful Point S in Bountiful, Utah; and Polo Rodriguez of Polo's Point S Tire & Automotive in San Antonio.
Another longtime board member, Bill Spencer of Point S Creswell, of Cresville, Ore., stepped down. Point S currently has eight board members.
The group has added 20 new locations in 2020, and its newest member, Christian Point S in Poplar Bluff, Mo., became the first Point S location in the Show Me State.
Point S has 257 locations across the U.S.
