Dan King is returning to his roots. The soon-to-be former senior vice president of sales and marketing for Yokohama Tire Corp. is taking over the reins of Tire’s Warehouse Inc. (TWI), a large wholesale tire distributor based in Corona, Calif.
His father, Byron, opened Bymar Tire & Brake in Mission Viejo, Calif., in 1976. "I was changing tires with nothing but a floor jack and a bubble balancer when I was 11 or 12 years old," says King.
Following the death of his father five years ago, King's brothers, Rob and Mike, took over the business, a Yokohama dealership that also offers BFGoodrich, Continental, Falken, Goodyear, Nexen, Nitto, Pirelli and Toyo tires.
Yokohama is one of TWI's strongest brands as well, along with Continental, Bridgestone, Hankook, Kumho, Sumitomo, Firestone, Landsail, Delinte, Maxxis, Falken, Achilles, General, Nexen and Gladiator. That's how King got to know owners Eric and Larry Helmle.
He will help run TWI as president on April 8, 2013.
"I'm leaving a global tire manufacturer to take over a wholesaler with five distribution centers in Southern California. It will be a tremendous challenge.
"Over the years, I've visited a lot of successful dealers, and some who have struggled. I have learned from all of them."
Why the move after nearly 25 years of service at Yokohama? "This is a great opportunity for me," he says. "At my age, if I was ever going to change careers and roll the dice, this was the time to do it."
King has big plans for the TWI, which he says "dominates" the Southern Calif., market. "We want to see what we can do to make TWI dominant in the western states."
To read more about the move, click here.
