News
Montana’s tire king, Chuck Patrick of Tire-Rama
Hi-Line-farmer-turned-tire-mogul Chuck Patrick calls his Tire-Rama "just a little Montana company."
He may be right, but it is a very successful little company.
By JOHN FITZGERALD
Of The Gazette Staff
Tire-Rama, with headquarters on Industrial Avenue in Billings, has 25 stores, does $45 million in sales each year, and employs between 240 and 260 people, depending on the season. The company’s stock is employee-owned. Tire-Rama also sells tires to 400 associated dealers in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North and South Dakota.
Not bad for "a little Montana company."
Tire-Rama was created in 1977 from BLM Tire, owned by three men who wanted to sell the business. Patrick’s father-in-law was one of those men, and he approached Patrick with the idea.
Patrick was a farmer in Rudyard. He and Jack Hasty bought BLM’s nine stores, including the store in Great Falls which Patrick then managed for many years. BLM’s headquarters was in Billings, as was Tire-Rama’s.
One of Patrick’s first decisions was to rename the company.
"BLM was named for the three guys who owned the company," Patrick said. "It’s also the name of a government agency (the Bureau of Land Management). It was a pain in the ass getting their mail and back and forth so we changed the name to Tire-Rama."
Patrick is a little fuzzy on where the name "Tire-Rama" came from.
"We had an employee contest, and that was the winning entry," he said.
Whatever the prize was, he can’t remember. "It wasn’t a hell of a lot because we didn’t have a lot of money."
While Tire-Rama is solely a Montana company, Patrick doesn’t rule out expansion beyond the borders.
"We’re always looking, but there’s nothing on the drawing board right now," he said. If Tire-Rama were to expand, it would be in one of the contiguous states.
To what does Patrick attribute his company’s success? People and product.
Patrick said Tire-Rama inherited a lot of good employees from BLM, and they’ve hired many from the Hi Line.
"We seem to be able to pick people who know how to make a buck and how to work," he said.
He specifically cites Dave Wehr from Rudyard, who will replace Patrick, 60, as company president when Patrick retires in about two years.
Tire-Rama is the sole supplier of Cooper tires in Montana. Patrick said Cooper is a stable company that produces a quality tire. Some companies allow anyone to sell their tires, but Cooper has stuck with Tire-Rama and that has made a difference, Patrick said. The fact that the company is American owned and manufactures its tires in America doesn’t hurt, he said.
"Cooper did a lot to get us rolling," he said.
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
MATR Supporters (view all)
Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.