Fred's Tire Man finds success serving small community

OAK VIEW, Calif. — To operate a single-location tire dealership for more than 30 years, it helps to be a member of the community most of your life, according to Fred Wachter, 72.

Fred's Tire Man was founded in 1990 and sells mostly tires and some undercar services to the small valley community of Oak View, population 6,000.

Over the years, Wachter has seen tire dealerships come and go. He started his dealership in a four-bay shop, but after 10 years, it outgrew the facilities. So he built a six-bay shop down the street in Oak View.

What's his secret to success? He spent most of his life in the community, including raising five children and sending them to the local schools.

This article first appeared as part of our Small Shop Success stories in the April 7 edition.

"I knew a lot of people when I started, so that was helpful. I wasn't like an out-of-towner coming into town and throwing up a sign, which I guess is the gamble of starting from scratch and not buying an established business."

Belonging to a buying group also helped. When he moved to his new location, he joined the Independent Tire Dealers Group (ITDG).

"That was very helpful," he said. "We're able to buy direct from some of the manufacturers, and it's just been a lot of good opportunities with all our purchases. I got in early, so I was a shareholder and a member. ... As the group grows and does better, it helps me to do better as well."

Noting the buying group offers members reduced pricing on tire purchases and other business advantages, he added: "For a small guy competing against the chains and the box stores, it's nice. That kind of helped boost us up and so we're competitive with all the big boys now."

Wachter began his career in the tire business when he joined his older brother to open a tire dealership when he was 19. He later broke off the partnership and rejoined his family's feed and grain business until his father retired. Since the feed business was struggling during the 1980s recession, Wachter decided to go back into the tire business and opened his own store in 1990.

While the store doesn't have much competition in Oak View, it does compete for business with dealers in nearby Ventura, where many local residents travel to work.

"We have a lot of competition but not next to us," Wachter said. "So our motto is to take care of all our local people the best we can and keep them from leaving the area for tires."

Tires account for about 80% of his sales. When he moved to the new location, he added oil change service and that has become a big part of the business.

"It's a really great business builder. We do brake work, suspension work, fluids/oil changes and then tires. But we don't really get into the diagnostic stuff."

He said he has the advantage of being small and local.

"We're still a family-owned and -run small local business. … We're a little more flexible, we're not like a corporate-type store. We're part of the community. That's a cliché a lot of stores use, but we really are. We do a lot of support with the schools and sports. We're part of the community. I've lived in this community for 50 years, so that's helpful as well."

He dealership not only sponsors schools and local sports teams, he also supports the local drug rehabilitation center and homeless shelter, among others.

"We're kind of unique. We're one of two legitimate tire stores in this whole valley, and the one is kind of new and it's sort of out of the way and it's really not much competition. We've had some come and go. We had one guy who took my old location and put in a Big O store in there and he lasted about a year and a half," he said.

He has the advantage of a low employee turnover rate. Among his 11 employees, several have been with the business for decades. He said he offers perks and incentives and competitive pay.

"It's tough because this community we're in has become very expensive to live as far as rentals, so a lot of them have to drive from the Ventura/Oxnard area, which is 10-15 miles away, to come to work just to afford a place to live," he said.

In addition to competitive pay, he encourages his techs to expand their mechanical work experience and pays them commissions.

"Giving them opportunities, that helps and keeps them around."

The high cost of living in the community also generates a diverse clientèle, Wachter said, ranging from owners of exotic cars to economy vehicles.

The dealership also caters to some local contractors and farmers by supplying and servicing tractor and truck tires.

Wachter considers his biggest accomplishment was when he made his move and built the new shop.

"I don't know if I could do it now. Things are just harder to get done, with the restrictions and all.

"Just starting up from scratch. I've had a lot of help along the way."

Years ago he thought about opening another location — "I kind of kicked myself that I didn't, but I felt that I had too much to do just running this one store. … I noticed that a lot of the stores that have multiple locations have now kind of cashed in on that because a lot of these automotive groups are buying them up."

Just recently, he said, he was contacted by a potential buyer.

"Since my daughter is interested in running it, I want to keep it — and keeping it for the community because things would change if we sold it to one of the chain stores," he said.

He doesn't have any set time frame for when he'll retire, but he plans to pass the business on to his daughter and son who work in the business.

His youngest son Andrew works as a mechanic and his daughter Gretchen, who retired after 20-plus years of teaching, is coming on board to help run the business "and give me a little more time off," he said.

Reflecting on his half-century in the tire business, "it's changed a lot," he said.

"When my brother and I started out in the tire business, our main sales were retreaded tires that we retailed for $8.88 a tire. It was pretty easy, and it seemed like we made good money then. It was a different world in the early '70s.

"Now the technology in tires just blows my mind every day. I look up a tire for somebody that has a European car, and Pirelli makes six different versions of the same tire. It's a lot harder to train people in that, too. Even myself."

One of the lessons he's learned and would pass on to other dealers: "Learn from your mistakes is a real important one. When you open up it seems like you got a lot of people out to sell you something. You just have to take a deep breath and figure out what's best for your situation or your store.

"I would say our mission statement is 'Just treat people the way you want to be treated.' Find out what they want and try to get them what they want. It's pretty simple, I think, if you're fair and find out what the customer wants and listen to them. Listening is important."