Longevity, focus on tires behind Gross Tire expansion

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Longevity, location and a focus on tires and wheels have proved to be a successful mix for Gross Tire Center, which has been in business for 89 years.

Owner Kerry Gross is the fourth generation in his family to run the dealership in Williamsport, a community of 27,000-plus inhabitants in north-central Pennsylvania.

After 76 years operating out of its current location, the dealership is hosting a grand re-opening of the facility on May 14 to tout the completion of a 1,500-sq.-ft. addition with two more service bays, tripling the size of the workshop area. The building received a fresh coat of paint and the parking lot was resurfaced.

The three service bays now have five rim-clamp machines and two wheel balancers. Before the addition, some cars had to be serviced outside in the parking lot.

"I was just financially in the position to expand this past year and was able to go sign on the dotted line and put the building up," Gross said.

The community celebration will include a live radio broadcast with a local radio station, food and door prizes.

Gross Tire's secret to success is "being here forever," Gross said.

"I have a lot of my dad's customers and then there are even some old-timers who come in here that say, 'I remember when I was a little kid coming in here and your grandfather taking care of my mom and dad.'"

The shop also is in a prime location in Williamsport's business district, between two strip malls. There is a lot of traffic and new faces coming in, he said

Despite the trend of tire dealerships expanding their auto service offerings to boost sales, Gross Tire has shunned auto service and focuses solely on selling and mounting tires and custom wheels, generating about $1.3 million in annual sales.

Gross began expanding his custom wheel business a couple of years ago and sells a few sets a week. He posts "before" and "after" photos of the outfitted vehicles on the dealership's Facebook page.

"We tag the customers in it so they can share it with all their friends. Especially with the pickup truck market, a lot of that is keeping up with the Joneses," he said, noting that some customers will see a friend's new wheels and ask for bigger and better wheels for their vehicles.

In addition to being a Continental Gold and Goodyear G3X dealer, Gross Tire is an authorized installer for Goodyear.com, TireRack.com and a few other online retailers, he said.

"A couple of times a week we have FedEx coming in dropping off tires and wheels for people who ordered online. That's a pretty good gig. That's all profit for us to just do the install," he said.

Customers can make appointments or just walk in.

"I think a lot of our success is 'no appointment needed.' Someone can just walk in and we can pull a car inside and I can get two or three guys on a car and knock a car out of here in 20 minutes. … That means a lot to people, that speed."

Gross also advertises his years of experience with tires. He said when a customer calls about a certain tire size, he can identify off the top of his head which vehicle that size fits. He said he also can identify the size of tires based on the vehicle that pulls into the parking lot.

"When you're doing it forever, you get a feel for it," he said.

He said customers also appreciate the financing options he provides via Goodyear and Continental credit cards and a few leasing companies that offer 100-day, same-as-cash credit lines.

Gross' great-grandfather Harry Gross started the business in 1933 as an Atlantic Petroleum gas station that did oil changes and sold tires.

In the 1940s, he retired and his son John Gross Sr. took over. When the business outgrew the facility, he moved the business to its current location in 1946. The converted colonial-style house served as the family residence and office for the business, with a single service bay next door and Gulf Oil gas pumps in the front.

His son John Gross Jr. took over the Gulf gas station in 1970 and sold Gulf Cruisemaster tires. He exited the gas business in the early 1990s, but continued to sell tires, including the Cavalier tire brand, and offered minor services such as oil changes and wiper and battery replacements.

Kerry Gross grew up helping his father handle and mount tires in the shop. He recalled how his father realized at one point that he had priced the Cavalier tires at half the manufacturer's suggested retail price in a catalog, so he started advertising a "buy one, get one free" promotion for Cavalier tires, which dramatically boosted his tire sales.

When Cavalier tires were discontinued, Gross Tire began selling TBC Corp. tire brands, including Cordovan, Multimile and Sigma, about the time Kerry Gross took over the business in 1999.

For years, Gross ran the business by himself and, since he wasn't a mechanic, he only sold and mounted tires. He expanded his inventory to include major brands and private brands.

In his first year he said he sold about 1,600 tires a year; one year he sold as many as 10,000 tires during a economic boon; last year he sold about 8,000 tires.

The business has grown and today the shop has three full-time and two part-time employees, including his 17-year-old son Lucas, a potential fifth-generation owner, who is taking an automotive course at his high school.

Gross said his family had smooth successions from father to son, with each son working with the father before taking the reins.

After his father retired, Kerry Gross said he would still come into the shop a few days a week to drink coffee and chat with customers, just as his retired grandfather would do.

"I have a feeling in another 20 years I'll be part of the coffee crew here, solving the world's problems, talking about different situations while drinking coffee — and being in the way."