"Thirty-five percent of people who come in to buy tires come back three or four times to buy other services," says Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack CEO Bill Leonard.
"If you can move than needle from 25% to 40% or 45%, you can have a major benefit to our service business."
Pep Boys' tire sales were "slightly up" during the second quarter but down in units.
"We were quite aggressive" with tire advertising during 2Q 2006 in order to help boost repair work, according Leonard, who addressed analysits during a conference call earlier today, Aug. 16.
However, industry demand for replacement tires "was soft."
Pep Boys will continue to use tires as a way to increase service sales. "If someone comes in for tires, the service manager needs to ask for more."
Earlier today, the chain posted earnings of $1.47 million on sales of $578.5 million for the second quarter of 2006. That compares to earnings of $832,000 on sales of $577.4 million for the same period in 2005.
