Reeves Tire owner expands on father's legacy

JOPLIN, Mo. — As Kristen Christy drove to her burning tire shop at 4 a.m. in November 2009, she said she could see the billowing smoke from a distance.

Kristen and her husband and shop co-owner Kent decided that day they would rebuild their service shop.

"It was devastating," Ms. Christy said, "but we're kind of resilient in that way. We're definitely 'pull-yourself-up-by-your-boot-straps and just get-to-work' kind of people.

"And we knew immediately we were going to rebuild," she said. "So, we just kind of went directly into the mode of, 'You know what? We're going to overcome this and this will work again.'"

Today, Reeves Tire & Automotive Co. operates three locations in Missouri and maintains a shop legacy started by Ms. Christy's father, John Reeves, who founded the business in Joplin in 1978.

Legacy

Ms. Christy's earliest memory of the shop is going to visit her dad after school, sitting in his office chair and hanging out at the counter. She remembers the smell of the shop, the glass-bottle vending machine and how walking around the service bays always felt like a big deal.

"It was just kind of a different place to be," she said.

Her father put her to work at around age 12 on accounts receivable and helping to input inventory. She laughs now, remembering how particular her father was that she use her hands correctly on the "big calculator."

That attention to detail, she said with a chuckle, "has served me well over the years."

Ms. Christy studied business and marketing in college and worked for an explosives company in various positions, including data entry, human resources and public relations.

"I didn't really know what I was going to do," she said.

For many small businesses, succession planning isn't really planned; life just happens. When Mr. Reeves started to have some health issues in the late 1990s, Ms. Christy and her husband decided to step up.

Mr. Christy already was working at the shop, and Ms. Christy returned to work there in the late 1990s.

The couple bought the store in 2000.

"It kind of became a no-brainer decision that this is my family's business, and I definitely want to see this continue," she said.

Mr. Reeves died in September 2020 from complications of COVID-19.

The fire

In November 2009, an electrical fire started in the shop and burned quickly after igniting a wood balcony where around 2,000 tires were stored.

"Early morning and a phone call you just never think you'll get in your lifetime," Ms. Christy said. "It was just the most horrific thing, when you drive toward it and see smoke in the air."

The decision to rebuild was made.

"We rebuilt on the site where the fire was," she said. "Actually, we were back open temporarily in our storage warehouse behind the original location within just a couple of weeks of the fire."

They used the temporary location until opening a state-of-the-art facility in September 2010.

Since the fire, Ms. Christy said she takes more time to study the details in everything. She said little things in life should be given thought and appreciation, because you never know what may happen.

"It made me realize, that yes, there's an overall big picture, but there are a lot of little things that go into that big picture that we should be thankful for," she said.

The couple also decided it was time to branch out.

"It had always kind of been my husband's dream to have multiple locations, and after (the fire), we decided to make the jump into a second location," she said.

They opened a location in Webb City, Mo., a decade ago, and recently added a third location in Carthage, Mo. All together, the three stores employ 28.

Ms. Christy said she and her husband are both hands-on owners who like to lead by example.

"We are big proponents of exemplifying the work attitude that you expect of your team. So, we lead by example," she said.

She said that being hands on was much easier with just one location. But she said the growth from that challenge was that they were able to utilize the strengths of employees and put more responsibility on them, "and trust that we have hired the right people."

Reeves Tire, she said, has had trouble — like many business — finding employees. But at their shop, they are generally looking to hire newcomers to fill out their bench.

"We are faithful to our team and have kept our of core employees. So usually we are just looking to fill that last position," she said.

Reeves Tire has been fortunate to keep employees on for many years, she said, because they treat them well. When it comes to hiring new employees, she said, she looks for detail-oriented, genuine people who she thinks will meld well with the team.

"(Kent and I) really enjoy working," she said. "There's a sense of excitement in what we do, and we look for people that really want to be a part of it."

Philosophy

The Reeves Tire philosophy is to give customers all of the information they can about their vehicle, and let the customer make their own decisions.

"We have never been pushy," she said. "It's our responsibility to give the customer the power of knowledge about their vehicle, but it's the customer's decision."

Ms. Christy said business has been very busy for the last year.

"We're kind of riding the wave right now. There's been record sales," she said.

While there was some concern at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that tire inventory might be tight, Ms. Christy said that hasn't been the case.

"We tend to stock a lot of tires anyway, but really we have not experienced anything out of the norm."

Coming from a family business, she said, she never felt she was being treated differently because she's a woman. The employees and customers always showed support for her family.

"My dad really gained a lot of respect from anyone who ever worked for him and in the community."

But she did add, sometimes there can be advantages to being a woman.

"I feel like it can be an advantage that ladies tend to be very detail oriented, so they tend to put their heart or passion where their work is," she said. "If you are very detail oriented, you learn a lot of things."

This is true of anyone, not just women, she added, and it's an important attribute that she looks for in a new team member.

When it comes to finding more woman to join the tire industry, Ms. Christy said the door is wide open.

"Many customers today expect to see a woman when they walk into a store," she said. "Half of the customers are women. Why wouldn't you expect to see woman working in the tire shop?"

Generally, she said, the key to enjoying a working life is to find a passion.

"If you find something you have a passion for, you should pursue that," she said. "Go into that interview and be confident, and feel like you belong.

"Think about what you can bring to the team," she added. "That's what they want to hear."