Tire Rack: Started here, staying here

If you can’t figure out how to buy the right tire for your vehicle after checking out the Tire Rack website, you just aren’t trying.

The online retailer of name-brand performance tires and accessories to consumers and to other retailers spells out everything for all who log in. There’s something for everyone, from the novice buying snow tires for the first time, to the enthusiast who stays current on all the latest trends.

Tire Rack’s sprawling distribution center.

There’s an online Tire Decision Guide, a ZIP code-driven national list of over 5,000 independent Recommended Installers, a video center showing professional drivers testing and reviewing the tires they sell … there’s even a “Using This Site” page that guides the newcomer through the ideal way to shop.

Talk to any of the personable staff members about the company, and it’s clear the user-friendly approach infuses every aspect of Tire Rack’s way of doing business. And it’s probably why the company is a leading online and direct-response tire retailer, selling millions of tires every year.

“We have six distribution centers around the country,” says Matt Edmonds, the company’s vice president of marketing. “South Bend is our corporate headquarters. Here is where we house all of our sales, marketing, customer service and accounting functions, as well as our largest distribution center. The other five are strategically placed to get product to customers as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.”

Matt Edmonds, Tire Rack’s vice president of marketing.

In fact, with all six centers combined, Tire Rack is able to reach more than 80 percent of its customer base in one day. (See “‘Serendipitous centrality’ spells success” for details on why South Bend is an ideal location.)

“‘Revolutionizing tire buying since 1979’ is our mantra going forward,” Edmonds says. “Our goal is to be the best in customer service, product selection and pricing. We look at all four areas of our process — research, buy, deliver, install — and make them as efficient as possible.”

That might mean, for example, looking at how products are tested and evaluated and ways in which delivery and installation can be streamlined, as well as guiding the consumer through the online shopping experience to demonstrate that it’s really no different from buying at a local store.

Over the course of its 30 years in business, the company has faced a number of key decisions, many of which directly involved the question of relocating versus staying in South Bend. Every time the issue has come up, staying in South Bend has proven to be the best option from a business standpoint.

“The last large decision we made was 10 years ago when we decided to build our present headquarters and distribution center in South Bend,” Edmonds says. “Previously, we had always leased our space. The City was very accommodating and supportive in our choice to build. When we did our planning, we were looking at a very long-term decision.

“We’re very committed to our local employee base,” he continues. “Here in South Bend, we have just over 400 local people employed here. We’re here to stay.”