September 13, 2010
Truck tire trendsetter
John Snider, MTD's Tire Dealer of the Year, has built one of the country's largest commercial tire dealerships by making hard decisions and capitalizing on opportunities that others miss
By: Mike Manges
John Snider, MTD’s 2010 Tire Dealer of the Year.
When you preside over a $200 million a year enterprise with 40 locations in nine states, making big decisions is part and parcel of daily life.
Buying new equipment, acquiring new locations, managing personnel, charting your company’s strategic direction, adjusting to ever-changing market conditions — all of these things require decisive action.
But rarely, perhaps only once in a career, are you confronted with the choice of severing ties with a company that has been supplying you with tires for more than 25 years in order to sign with a new supplier.
That’s the situation John Snider, CEO and president of Snider Tire Inc., faced in 2009, when he changed retreading systems.
Snider, Modern Tire Dealer’s 2010 Tire Dealer of the Year, had to choose between Bridgestone Bandag and Michelin. It turned out to be the toughest decision of his 30-plus year career, with long-lasting ramifications. (For the full story, click here.)
John Snider’s ability to make smart decisions and capitalize on opportunities when they appear has enabled Snider Tire to grow into one of the tire industry’s most successful ventures. The company even expanded during the toughest economic climate in 50 years.
Snider Tire operates in a state of perpetual forward motion, and with John Snider at the wheel, the dealership is expected to break even more new ground as its phenomenal growth continues.
Humble beginnings
Snider Tire also is one of the fastest-growing dealerships in the country, having added 10 locations in 2009 alone.
While John Snider gives ample credit to his employees for the company’s spectacular success and tends to downplay his own contributions, one thing is certain: without him, Snider Tire would not exist in its current form.
Snider has been the prime mover behind the dealership’s ascension, seizing opportunities that other tire dealers missed, ignored or didn’t have the vision to pursue. “The commercial tire business is an operations business,” he says.
Snider went to work for his father, John H. Snider, in 1977 at Snider Tire Inc.’s original store in Greensboro, N.C. Snider Tire now has 40 locations throughout the U.S. and employs nearly 800 people.
“It’s not difficult to understand what you have to do to be successful in the commercial tire business. It’s just really difficult to do it, and to do it every day.”
With his wealth of knowledge and hard-fought experience, Snider makes it look almost easy.
Snider is a second generation tire dealer. His father, John H. Snider, bought a small, single location tire shop in Greensboro, N.C., in 1976. Prior to that, he worked as a district manager for General Tire & Rubber Co.
Unlike many second generation tire dealers who grew up in their father’s business, the younger Snider didn’t work for his dad’s dealership until after he graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1977.
However, John had accumulated plenty of tire shop experience by then.
In high school, he worked at a General Tire & Rubber Co. store, sweeping floors, changing tires and eventually selling them at the counter.
Snider Tire was his first post-college job. “I graduated on a Friday and started on a Monday. I didn’t take a long trip to Europe to ‘find myself.’ I didn’t go to work at a ski resort in Colorado. I just went to work. I became my dad’s 21st employee.”
At the time, Snider Tire did a little bit of everything. It operated a small retread plant that produced 10 to 15 units a day. It also sold household appliances and was one of the largest television set retailers in Greensboro.
But commercial tires were the company’s bread-and-butter. “My dad, during his career, was more skewed toward the commercial side of the business, even when he worked for tire manufacturers.” (Before working for General, the elder Snider worked for Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.)
The dealership was small but successful. “The first year my dad owned it, we did a little less than $1.5 million in revenue.”
Working for such a small dealership was “a good education,” says Snider. “When you have a small business, you do a little bit of everything. If a retail customer walks through the door, you help him. You might pull his old tires and mount new tires. You might be the commercial tire service manager for a day. You wear a lot of hats.”
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