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Joe Inchiostro is the Owner and CEO of St. Louis Wholesale Tire. His cousin, John Inchiostro, is the Operations Manager. The company is renowned for providing hard-to-find tires and other specialty products in the automotive industry. Their fathers founded St. Louis Wholesale Tire, which started in their living room and eventually grew into an enterprise serving a national customer base. Joe and John have expanded the company’s offerings, introducing their own AIRLOC brand inner tubes and positioning St. Louis Wholesale Tire as a silent partner to wholesalers needing unique tire solutions.
In this episode…
The story of St. Louis Wholesale Tire is a true testament to the American dream; two brothers steered their business from brokering tires out of their father’s living room to leading a tire industry empire. How did these two brothers manage to create a culture that prioritizes people over profits, fostering a sense of belonging that transcends the boundaries of a traditional workplace?
According to cousins Joe and John Inchiostro, the secret to St. Louis Wholesale Tire’s success lies in the unbreakable bond between the founders and their commitment to treating employees like family. From the very beginning, their fathers — who are the founding brothers — instilled a philosophy of putting relationships first, understanding that money comes and goes, but the connections they forge are invaluable. This mindset permeates every aspect of the business, creating an environment where employees feel supported and valued. Whether it’s accommodating family emergencies or celebrating personal milestones, the company’s leadership recognizes that a happy and fulfilled workforce is the key to long-term prosperity.
In this episode of Gain Traction, Joe and John talk with host Mike Edge about the evolution and modernization of the family tire business. They reveal how they managed to reinvent their business repeatedly to stay ahead of market trends. The cousins emphasize relationships over profits, exceptional service, and the unique products that set them apart. They discuss their approach to customer service, the significance of offering a broad product range, and strategic partnerships with geographic distributors.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [01:52] How St. Louis Wholesale Tire began as a true American success story
- [10:28] The inception of the AIRLOC brand and how it became pivotal for business growth
- [13:27] Strategies St. Louis Wholesale Tire employed to navigate industry changes
- [15:45] The importance of responding to customer demands with innovative solutions
- [17:59] How the ATV Tire Bible came to be a testament to the company’s market adaptability
- [23:20] The services and support offered by St. Louis Wholesale to other wholesalers
- [28:10] How Joe and John Inchiostro embody the philosophy of “time and pressure” in business growth
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Joe Inchiostro on LinkedIn
- John Inchiostro on LinkedIn
- St. Louis Wholesale Tire
- Mike Edge on LinkedIn
- Tread Partners
Companies:
Websites:
Quotable Moments:
- “I really feel like it’s a true American success story of taking everything you’ve got, taking a shot at it, and you’re all in.”
- “Pressure and time. One small move a day, one good decision. Over the course of a year, you will move mountains.”
- “We want the employees to feel like they’re part of our family. Handle your own troubles; we’ll handle ours. We’re here for each other.”
- “We try to go above and beyond just the sale of the tire and provide convenience, service, and quality. Really, value is what we’re trying to provide.”
- “If there’s something wrong, we’ll make it right. We’re not worried about that tire. It’s the relationship. We want to build trust.”
Action Steps:
- Adopt a “time and pressure” approach to business challenges.
- This patient and persistent approach is proven by the Inchiostro’s success and reinforces the importance of incremental progress [00:28:10].
- Embrace your unique history and expertise to carve out a niche in the market.
- Understanding your distinct strengths can set you apart from competition, just as St. Louis Wholesale Tire’s specialty in rare tires did [00:06:04].
- Make strategic partnerships for business growth and market expansion.
- Collaborating with other companies, as St. Louis Wholesale does with tires, can increase your reach and create mutually beneficial relationships [00:21:33].
- Innovate by responding to customer demands with practical solutions.
- Addressing client needs with forward-thinking products and services, like the seller return program, can drive subscriber confidence and loyalty [00:15:45].
- Prioritize relationships in every aspect of the business.
- Building trust and treating customers as friends, as Joe and John Inchiostro do, can foster a positive reputation and long-term success [00:30:36].
Transcript
Announcer:
Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, where we feature top automotive entrepreneurs and experts and share their inspiring stories. Now let’s get started with the show.
Mike:
Hey folks, welcome to the Gain Traction podcast. I am Mike Edge, your host. Hey, I recently went on vacation and had a great time with my entire family in Gulf Shores, Alabama, but, it’s always nice to be back in the saddle, so I’m happy to be doing this podcast today because I love our guests that we’re having. Our guests today are Joe and John Inchiostro from St. Louis Wholesale Tire in St. Louis, Missouri.
Before we get started, this episode is brought to you by Tread Partners in the ReTread marketing program. Tire and auto repair shop owners and managers, please listen to me, pay attention here. Tread Partners runs a program that guarantees your marketing money. No tricks, it’s a customer re-engagement program going after your best lost customers. It’s a one time, 120 day program that generates a 10 to one return on investment, and it’s guaranteed. Tread Partners gets your best lost customers back to spend money with you. These are customers that are currently in your point of sale system right now. They’re yours. So how do we get them back? So for example, if you invest $5,000 today, what we’re saying is that you’ll see a $50,000 return in 120 days from that very list of targeted best lost customers. Tread Partners works only within the tire and auto repair industry. Tread Partners specializes for you. To learn more, visit treadpartners.com or call them and ask them any questions you want. It works and every tire and auto repair shop in North America should be doing this ReTread marketing program at least once a year to clean up their books.
Okay, folks. Also, are you familiar with the Traction Summit? If not, I want to encourage you to learn more about it. Possibly attend the Traction Summit 2024, it’s hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina this year. August 13th and 14th, and you can learn more, just visit tractionsummit.com.
So as I mentioned, my guests today are Joe and John Inchiostro. Joe and John, welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast.
Joe:
Thanks, Mike.
John:
Hi Mike.
Joe:
Nice work on the last name. I really appreciate your efforts there.
Mike:
Well, it’s one of those things, you guys worked with me. You’re very patient. I appreciate it. From this Kentucky kid, we’ve got a different dialect here, whole nother language to most people, so we have to work a little harder to pronunciate things correctly.
Joe:
But thanks for having us, man. Ever since we met down in Mexico, I guess last month or so and-
Mike:
Couple months.
Joe:
… a little bit of St. Louis and Cardinals and all that. I was really interested in what you were doing here and I appreciate that you picked us op to be on here and talk a little bit about what we do and share it with the industry.
Mike:
Well, first of all, you guys made it easy because you invited me to eat on the hill with you in St. Louis, if you remember.
Joe:
Well, I just threw it out there as a text. I’m like, I’m just being nice. He’s like, “Well, you know what? I’m going to take you up on that.”
I’m like, “All right, we’re going to lunch. Let’s get some toasted raviolis.”
Mike:
Well, like I said, St. Louis is not terribly far, and anytime I go to town, it almost sounds bad if any St. Louisans are listening, I literally eat only on the hill, I think every time I show up. I mean, it’s crazy.
Joe:
I appreciated the excuse to get over there. Because we’re in St. Louis and it’s like 10 minutes from here and I never take the time because it’s right there.
Mike:
I get it. It’s kind of, it’s always there, you just take it for granted. Well, listen guys, look, I love, love, love your all’s story about your dads. So to the audience, you guys are cousins, but your dads were brothers and started this business. And let’s just start from the beginning, when they got started and how each one of you guys fell into it.
Joe:
Yeah, great. Obviously, it’s a story that’s near and dear to our hearts too. I really feel like it’s a true American success story of taking everything you got, taking a shot at it, and you’re all in, failure’s not an option. Victory or death, whatever you want to call it.
Mike:
Yeah, it’s eat or starve, right? That was it.
Joe:
Yeah. So I guess the very beginning of when tires got into the blood of our family if you will, was back in 1962 when my uncle Larry started working at a Goodyear retail store. He was 22 years old at the time. He worked there for a while. He was four years younger than my dad. So my dad was a little further along in his career and he was working at Moog Automotive, so not the tire business, but somewhat related with automotive parts and things like that. And so they both worked for a little while and had different careers going and then had an opportunity at a wholesale place in town here, Tire Mart. And this is still now in the late sixties, early seventies. And so they both got together and worked there for a while and ended up being too successful.
John:
That’s the part I remember.
Joe:
So they really rocked it and built that place up and then not wanting to ever speak negatively upon anybody, I’ll just say that they ended up parting ways on not the best terms, under the pretense of well, we can do this better ourselves and we don’t want to be beholden to anyone.
Mike:
So you’re saying with the employer who had hired both of them?
John:
Yeah, it was the tire deal that went down that they navigated and when it came time for the payoff, he wouldn’t pay. So they’re like, we can do this on our own. So they went and directed it, do that, and then-
Joe:
We will no longer be beholden to others. We want to be in control of our own destiny, so to speak. And so the rest was history.
John:
So they started brokering tires out of his dad’s living room. Two desks in his living room, and they were talking on the phone with people around the country. And during that is when collectively they both knew a number of people around the country and they told people, “Hey, we’re going to leave, do this on our own.” They’re like, “About time you guys left there.” So they’re like, “Tell me what you want. Send me a PO. We’ll send it to you. You pay me when you can. Good luck.” And that’s how we got started, on a handshake.
Mike:
That’s awesome. That’s awesome.
Joe:
Such a relationship that people knew they were good guys, they were going to get it done. And so we got a little jumping off and the industry was different back then. There were consignments, there were handshakes. It was a little more…
John:
It was the mid-eighties.
Mike:
When they did it. Did they immediately name it St. Louis Wholesale?
Joe:
No, there was about four to five years where… I like to envision it in my mind as two guys in the wild west slinging tires out of the back of a wagon buying and trading and selling and doing, and we can make a deal on buy and sell-
Mike:
I got a compliment you. You are great at imagery. That is awesome. I could picture that. But the guys are out West and it looks like it’s in the 1800s. What are these cats doing with tires?
Joe:
Yeah, it’s maybe not in the right genre, but certainly it was a different time.
John:
Handshakes were good back then.
Joe:
And then they had enough success, they’re like, all right, let’s formalize this thing. We need more space, we’re growing.
John:
So they found a warehouse downtown by the arch and rented space, but had offices and it started growing that way. And then it got better than they got more space and more space and then-
Joe:
Consolidated gains. Then we needed another new building. And now we’re into the early nineties. Remember I think I was in junior high or something and we bought our first building 60,000 square feet. It was a major endeavor for our family. And I remember a story Uncle Larry told me, and this kind of gives you a feel of the work ethic of these two and how their relationship with each other was. So he is like, “You know we got that new building and we’re remodeling the office ourselves. And I’m like, I’m going to get down there first this morning and I’m going to get going. So I got up at three o’clock and I drove down there and I’m ready to go and I’ll be damned if I didn’t pull in the park and your dad was already there. I walked in and he’s pulling up the floor and I’m like, that mother, I tried to beat him down there, but…” They were just so excited to do it.
Mike:
That’s awesome though, that they had a relationship, but then they were even competitive about their work ethic with each other.
Joe:
And it was something that resonates with me, and it’s a philosophy that John and I still carry through to this day. Not just with our personal relationship, but with our employees and everyone, like a family first. People before profits. You never let something like money come between a relationship because money comes and goes, but relationships are worth more than any type of monetary value.
John:
You want the employees to feel like they’re part of our family. So when anybody has kid issues or just whatever, we just roll with it and handle it. We have our own kids that we got to roll with when things come our way. So when they bring their own troubles or whatever about their kids, we’re like, “Go handle it. We’ll be here tomorrow.”
Mike:
That’s awesome. And I actually guys, I could feel that when I walked through the Warehouse, you guys, you gave me that tour and I greatly appreciate it, gave me a great feel and taste for your business. But just meeting some of the folks through the different channels that you sell and the distribution, and I think the shipping guys, I mean, you could feel that relationship there. They wanted to let me know how good everything is. And it wasn’t like you guys had to ask them to do that.
John:
Yeah, well, we’ve got, what, six of them that have been here for a long time. The nucleus of our warehouse guys, they’ve all been here a long time. They understand the tires, they understand Joe and I, the way we think and the way we handle people, and just interact with them and let them do what they need to do but stay focused and in the right direction.
Joe:
Our warehouse manager, Darren trained me on day one when I was 12. So he’s still here.
Mike:
That’s awesome. So I’m jumping the gun, but this gives people a taste of your dad and you were just talking about your dad and your uncle and everything, but tell me that story again or tell the audience that story about when your dad got the shipment in of tires that didn’t have much margin on them, dangerous and wanted you to…
John:
Oh, yeah.
Joe:
Right. Widow makers. Yeah, so I was probably 16, so it was the summer in high school. So I’d come into work and I’d get to work. That’s our motto in this family. You’re not going to sit around, you’re going to get to work. So I was working probably summertime, a hundred degrees out. So you’re getting those containers, I mean, you put your finger on the side of the container and you’re going to burn yourself. It’s an extra 20 degrees inside one of these containers. He’s like, “Guys, I got a deal that’s coming in,” Okay. “they’re 1,020 bias truck tires on split rims,” which are known as widow makers because they’re just extremely dangerous for blowing off the rim. He’s like “They’re coming in, but they’re really dangerous. So I can’t let any of you guys unload it. So Joe’s going to do it.”
And I’m sitting there thinking, okay, so they’re too dangerous for our employees, so you’re going to throw your son in there and have him do it. I’m like, what a great employer. So we were in there doing it and somehow we made it through. I was kind of having like, okay. And I had one other guy with me. “I’m like, all right, let’s roll it off this stack, but let’s point the rim that way. So if it blows off, it doesn’t blow a leg off for us.” And I’m like, all right. And I was young and full of piss and vinegar, but I’m thinking back on that, I’m like, damn dad, I guess you really valued me or something. But it was-
Mike:
It was a learning experience for you, but he was protecting the employee, right?
Joe:
Well, and it was for 10 bucks at tire.
John:
And then we housed them for the customer and his guys would come over and say… He would pick the ones he wants out of the stack, he wouldn’t just take the next two off the top. He would pick which ones he wants. So we have to break them down, give him the one he wants, then stack them back up. So it was quadruple handling the tires that he wanted to make 10 bucks or whatever.
Joe:
So for $2,000 gross profit, I’m going to put my son’s life on the line.
Mike:
Yeah.
Joe:
He’s old school. Old school, right?
Mike:
I love it. So let’s go back to the story. I always digress on here, but so we’re in the nineties.
Joe:
And we got our first building, and that lasted for a very long time. And they did what they did well. And that was when the inception of one of our core marketing principles, and the thing that really our, I would say claim to fame over many of the decades is. The new oddball, hard to find unique product niche that St. Louis Wholesale Tire has been known for pretty much since 1984 is our official inception date, incorporation date. And so they had this backdrop in history of buying goofy, odd old stock lists, inventory closeouts and kind of the wheeling and dealing, which gave them that understanding of antique markets, willingness to buy closeouts, different deals. So they marketed that into the new oddball, hard to find, if you can’t find it, call St. Louis Wholesale.
And when I came in 2000 and we’d get phone calls from all over the country, it’s like, “I can’t find this anywhere. I’m looking for this. You guys are the guys to call.” And it’s always amazed me that how good a job they did of getting the message out that we were that resource and how well they must’ve done at it, because everybody from coast to coast knew, if you can’t find it, call St. Louis Wholesale Tire.
John:
And to that point, I remember there was a number of phone calls that came in closer to the time that we took over. People would call and say, “Give me Larry’s kid.” Because they’re looking for a tube or something odd. And they figured, well, if Larry’s not there, ask his kid if he can help. So that’s how I started learning about different tires and tubes that would work in different tires and just people started asking me questions and I started thinking about what tube can we put in this tire that’s tubeless. And that’s just how it started.
Mike:
Well and just to give people the impression that I got, Joe, you basically told me that John is the encyclopedia there.
Joe:
That’s right.
Mike:
Yeah.
Joe:
He is the embodiment of oddball, hard to find. And not on a personal level, even though maybe a little bit.
John:
Well, but that’s what I grew up doing, I was unloading the trucks. I started in a warehouse. So unloading tires that are now old were normal back then. So I just knew them. And then I grew up during the radial conversion from bias to radial, as the market changed, I kind of just was there doing it. And people go, “How do you know that?” I’m like, “I don’t know. I just lived it. And I just know that this crosses into that from a bias to a radial or a metric.”
Joe:
It’s uncanny. The amount of knowledge he knows at the tip of his tongue, whatever you need.
Mike:
I know, I can tell. And I love that. So let’s talk about the, I noticed I’m looking at the brand AIRLOC. Let’s talk about how you got to that.
Joe:
Yeah, so new, oddball, hard to find, worked from ’84 to ’98. That was what we were doing. But as the industry was changing, foreign products were coming into the market, distributors were growing, mom and pop shops, market consolidation. The industry was changing, and our life cycle, if you will, of our company was starting to get into maturity and decline. And we’re like, okay, the Internet’s coming on, people can just look for things online. We were having to figure out a way to reinvent ourselves as the industry was changing.
And so then I came in 2000 and I was asking different questions. I’m like, okay, so I got a marketing degree, “What’s our pitch? How do we go to market, new, oddball, hard to find?” I’m like, okay. And I did sales for a couple months and I’m like, it’s really hard to grow on “Call me If you need something weird,” it’s great, but how do we go to the next level with something that is a sporadic demand item? And they need it when they need it and we want to be there for them, but how do we grow? And so we’re like, okay, we got to figure out a way to reinvent ourselves.
I think right that moment in time is when an old factory of inner tubes, Couples, in St. Louis burnt down and decided not to rebuild and relocated to Canada. And so the dads had the idea that there was going to be a vacuum of supply for inner tubes in the Midwest. And at that time, we were thinking it would just be regionally, we weren’t quite thinking that we would grow to what it has become today. So we came up with the name AIRLOC and sought out a factory and got our own brand of inner tubes developed under the AIRLOC name and tried to… Because every tire dealer distributor across the country has a tube room. We’re like, okay, well, we can become a tube supplier. That’s a regular, reorder product that people are going to need over time. And now instead of just, “Call me when you need something weird,” we can say, “How are you doing on tubes?”
That was kind of the inception of program selling that we were starting to evolve into. And right as we were getting the program off the ground, Cooper decided to get out of the tube business. And so I’m just a young punk with a computer. Well, I’m going to download every Cooper dealer by state, and we’re going to get to town boys. We’re going to call every Cooper dealer in the country and we’re going to get after this. And so that opportunity, right at the same time on the heels of Couples burning down allowed us to, our trim rubber burning down, allowed us to jump-start the program and really grow. And at that same time we were-
Mike:
That gave you what you really never had was that sustainability or that stability where it wasn’t just oddball. Now you had a product.
Joe:
Yeah, reorder.
Mike:
Yeah, reorder.
Joe:
And then at the same time, we were noticing that the 4-wheeler tire market was evolving and growing and that it used to be just a recreational item, but now farmers, ranchers, miners, there were a lot of people that were owning 4-wheelers. It would becoming from the 3-wheeler to the 4-wheeler. And that segment was blowing up, and John was big on that as well. And we’re like, “Well, why does the power sport dealer get all that aftermarket tire business? Couldn’t the tire dealer enter into that segment?”
Every guy that’s got car and a tractor having a 4-wheeler, now, why don’t we put together an ATV tire program to offer along with our inner tubes so that people, the aftermarket tire dealer, can start to penetrate this market. It’s a huge growth opportunity, but nobody knows exactly what to do. It’s too new, it’s too untested. And so let’s be the guy that takes that chance, takes on that inventory and starts to be a first mover bringing ATV tires into the independent tire dealer market.
John:
So that’s when the ATV Tire Bible was born because you had pictures with the sizes that they came in. You could stand at the counter and talk about the tire that the customer wants for their bike or whatever they’re putting it on. And then Uncle Joe made the Tire Bible out of that. So it worked out good. It was a good sales tool for everybody.
Joe:
It gained attention, that’s for sure.
Mike:
So if you had your choice of, whoever we’re talking to out there that’s listening, who is your ideal customer? I know wholesale is in your name, but you work with other wholesalers because you fill gaps for those guys, right?
Joe:
Yeah. Well, again, we’ve had to evolve a few times to reinvent ourselves as the market has changed. And I like to quote Wayne Gretzky’s quote of, “I’m going to skate to where the puck is going to be, not where the puck is.” You have to look at the market and look at market trends and look where opportunities are going to be and try to capitalize on future opportunities and position yourself to take advantage of them ahead of time. And so as we’ve had to reinvent ourselves, it started with that program selling of tubes and then ATV. Well, then as the market continued to consolidate, we’re like, man, well now everybody’s doing these types of products. There’s continued mergers and acquisitions, Mom and pop shops, are going out of business.
I still think the independent tire dealer will always dominate the market, and there’s always going to be a competitive advantage for our speed, flexibility and service. But people are, there is a lot of mergers and acquisitions in our market, and we’re like, how are we going to maintain relevance in this evolving market? We need to offer a portfolio of products that’s unique to us, that has significant features and benefits that are different and better, how we can supply better products that you can only get through us.
So that [inaudible 00:20:48] brand, we evolved into ATV, lawn and garden, radial trailer, inner tubes, some skid steer, and then we negotiated some exclusivity with the Star-Max line of farm and ag and industrial and the ATF line out of India and farm and ag and industrial.
Pretty much built this portfolio of products that’s exclusive to us. We had built up enough buying power that we had the volume to negotiate very competitive prices and instead of strictly targeting dealers, our growth model now is to partner with geographic distributors in regions of the country and support them, supply them with our products that they can distribute in that region. We don’t have any delivery trucks. We’re strictly shipment and factory direct. So we seek out other larger than us wholesalers in different geographic regions and support them with our niche product portfolio.
Mike:
And the beauty of it is they don’t want to be in that space, but they want to be able to say, “Hey, I can fill your need,” to their customers.
Joe:
You tell them no, you don’t want to turn people away. But if you can focus on passenger, light truck, commercial truck, which is 80% of the market, and do that well and then use us as a supplemental. So we will support you with those products. We’ve got factory direct programs, you get some containers in, but then we have stateside fill in, so you don’t have to buy 200 of every SKU, you can get 30 of each and then fill in four to six at a time on an LTL shipment out of St. Louis. So we allow you to keep your capital free and have that just in time inventory on those specialty products.
Mike:
And the wholesaler is allowing their retailer to be able to say yes to that same customer that’s bringing in the ATV or owns the trailer and they don’t have to go somewhere else and look for it. They’re taking care of all their PLT stuff, but now I can take care of you on everything. And it gives peace of mind for everybody involved in the chain because you guys are doing kind of the heavy lifting of the inventory and just managing it all and being that special group that, “Hey, call us [inaudible 00:23:00] to fill that need for you.”
Joe:
Yeah, I mean, while it is selling tires, really we’re trying to provide service and convenience. We are tire guys, so we try to think about it from a tire guy’s point of view. So, okay, all our tires are going to be unbundled and unsmashed. We’re going to pay a little more. Well, why are you doing that? Well, because we’ve put tires up on the roof for two or three days to have the sun loosen them up because the beads were too smashed together. We’re not going to do that to people. We’re going to pay a little more to have the quality product so that you’re not paying a technician $25 an hour to spend 30 minutes trying to-
John:
Mount a tire [inaudible 00:23:37].
Joe:
… 15000 wheel barrel tire or something goofy like that. So we try to approach all our products and our processes with the dealer distributor in mind in terms of speed of shipment accuracy, packing lists that have check boxes when they come in, invoices, same day, big labels that have size, part number SKU that you can read from across the dark warehouse from a distance to see. Our inner tubes have sealed boxes inside of the cases so that if the service truck is driving around, it doesn’t slide out of the bag and get damaged or mistaken for another size.
So we try to go above and beyond just the sale of the tire and try to provide convenience, service and quality. So really value is what we’re trying to provide to people. Make life easier, take the headaches out of it with good quality product and service so you can keep doing what you’re doing well and not have to worry.
Mike:
Man, it just sounds like such a fit for… I know wholesalers, I know retailers and I’m just thinking about, I’ve heard them complain about the stuff that, the low volume stuff, but they got to carry it or something like that. But you guys are making it, you’re just making it easy. And there’s so many people that come to mind that I’ve heard things from, “Oh, you got a pocket, you got to carry that. We got to have that just because we wanted this customer, he has a lot of these types of people or needs, and we keep it here, but it moves slow.” Well, if they had a St. Louis Wholesale behind them, then they don’t have to worry about that.
John:
We try to fill the now factor for them.
Joe:
So a good example of what we’re talking about here in listening to demands of our partners, because relationship is the key to this business. We’re not getting a sale and then we’re done. We want to be a partner with you for the next 10 years and beyond. And so we don’t sweat the little stuff. We see the forest through the trees. A big thing that we talk about is losing the battle to win the war. Look, man, if there’s something wrong, we’re going to make it right. We’re not worried about that tire. It’s a relationship between us. We want to build that trust and you know that we’re always going to make it right no matter what. And we’re listening.
And so when we’re trying to sell the ATV tires, we’re like, I don’t know what to stock and I don’t want to get stuck with it. And after I heard that for the 250th time, I’m like, all right, we got to figure this thing out here. So we put together a sell them or return them on program with our specialty tires, ATV, and lawn and garden. So we have, and this is to the partnership point, popularity charts, suggested packages and promotional material. And so if you get on board with us on that specialty program, we’ll give you that literature, we’ll discuss with you what we think is best to put in stock for your specific geographic region. But then after a year’s worth of time, if there’s certain tires that are sitting there that aren’t moving, we’ll take them back, no charge, and then replace them with what is moving for you so you can customize your inventory over time to fit your geographic market.
Mike:
It doesn’t get any better than that. That’s very nice relationship.
Joe:
And then at the same time, we have posters, fliers. So really try to help people capitalize on this market without taking any risk or knowing that they’ve got that backend support.
Mike:
I love it. I just like it from the aspect, it’s kind of like, you know there’s places out there, I’m going to the retail side, there’s places out there that are strictly auto repair. And I know guys that try to teach these guys, look, you got to get in the tire business where your relationship starts. Why would you let that dude go out the door down the street to get his tires? Because that shop down there is selling tires, they’re also doing auto repair. So they’re going to see a brake problem that you’re not going to get. And what I think about it with you guys, with the special lines that you guys offer and the unique lines that you’re doing with tires, you’re allowing them to say, “Look, yeah, we do PLT, but I can help you out with your trailer, lawn and garden, ATV, whatever. I’ve got it all.” And you guys fill that need or gap for them.
Joe:
We carry the oddball philosophy into these product lines as well. So the large big box wholesalers that are focused strictly on inventory turns, they’ll carry the top 20% of any given category. Whereas with John’s expertise as the oddball, unique, tire guy, we’re always studying, we’ll carry 80% of a line so that we’ve got the one-stop shop. They’re not the fastest moving SKUs, but we’ve got them and we’re building them in the AIRLOC, we’re investing in it.
So we’ve got breadth and depth of coverage in these different product categories more so than almost anyone because we’re willing to make the investment through one-stop shop. And all of our promotional literature does not have our name on it. Because like I mentioned, we want to partner with other wholesalers in geographic regions. So we’re supporting them to distribute our brands to the dealers and commercial centers. So it’s really a silent partner scenario where we just want to grow with people.
Mike:
I love that philosophy. Well, let me get back on the personal side real quick here. Tell us your favorite movie of all time.
Joe:
Favorite movie. Yeah. This was hard.
Mike:
Or it can pertain to some message that you’d like to talk about.
Joe:
Yeah, yeah. When I think about movies, this is one of our core philosophies here that I tell my guys, and it’s true, I guess, of not just business but of all life, but the Shaw Shank Redemption. Like Andy Dufresne wrongly accused of committing a crime and is incarcerated for life. And the portion of the movie where he’s digging out one scoop of dirt from his cell a day and dumping it in the yard over 30 years to slowly build his way, build his tunnels, to escape wrongfully being incarcerated. And he says, “Pressure and time, time and pressure.”
And so I tell my guys “Time and pressure, man,” one small move a day, one good decision, challenge yourself to break out of your comfort zone by one thing every day, and over the course of a year, you will move mountains. So that helped, that resonated, that philosophy in that movie of that persistence and perseverance over time, making a difference. That’s a flick [inaudible 00:29:57] joy.
Mike:
No, and that makes all the sense in the world, and it is the way you run a company. I think you and I have touched on this before, but hardest thing to teach a guy that is full of piss and vinegar is patience. But if you can be patient, and I don’t mean patient as in passive, I mean impatient and understanding how to use pressure and time to your advantage and just keep moving forward, then you’re going to win. And you guys have grown substantially. I mean, I don’t know if as a percentage you can tell the audience, but you guys have grown a lot in the last five years.
Joe:
Yeah, well probably 50% in the last five years.
Mike:
Yeah. That’s awesome.
Joe:
So we’re continuing to grow and expand.
John:
Well, it’s constant containers coming in and we’ve got our three and a quarter floors that are packed right now. I mean, you got to almost look for space at times to put something, but there’s a lot of turnover and there’s a lot of space that we’ve got in the warehouse that we had to get a bigger warehouse because of the other building was small. We just kept growing.
Mike:
That’s awesome. Well guys how can, let’s say somebody’s listening right now and they’re like, man, I need to be in touch with St. Louis Wholesale. How can they reach you guys?
Joe:
Yeah, well a number of ways. I mean, our website is www.stlwholesale.com, you can get on there and hit Contact Us. It also has a list of everyone that works here with an email link and a cell phone link. Email. (800) 231-1231. That’s our 800 number.
Mike:
All right, that’s perfect. Yeah, I think stlwholesale.com, that’s the easiest way to reach these guys. And like you said, you guys have, everybody in each department can be reached with email or cell phone, correct?
Joe:
Yeah. And that’s a good point. So you call that (800) 231-1231, you will not get a press one for sales, press two for accounts receivable, and then you’re sitting there jamming on the zero trying to get through the annoyance of it all because you just want a human. The phone rings to everyone in this building, and if it gets to the fourth ring, I’m picking it up.
Mike:
Oh, right. Well, and you’re answering questions. People can just call to ask questions. It’s not like they got to buy anything first time they call, right?
John:
It happens all the time.
Joe:
I mean, I tell everyone, when we’re out on the road, “If you can’t find something or you don’t know what fits with something, give us a call and we’ll help you.” It is relationship. This is not what we do. It’s who we are. We love to do it. And I have customers, but they’re not customers. We’re friends, regardless of business, we have relationships. And that’s how we approach every aspect of this business. It’s if we can help in any way, then we’re going to try to help. So we want to be a service and a resource as much as a distributor and a supplier.
Mike:
You guys sing my song. That’s exactly what I try to do with Gain Traction. We’re a friend in the industry and I love networking people together that listen. We get calls randomly sometimes, saying, “Hey man, you had this guest on that talked about this. Can you put me in touch with them?” Love to. I mean, because it all builds up the industry and I’m one of those guys that all boats rise with a high tide.
Joe:
Yeah, that’s right.
Mike:
Well guys, I can’t thank you enough for being on Gain Traction. It’s been a lot of fun.
Joe:
Appreciate it.
Mike:
Having you guys learning the story, and I think it’s been great for our audience. I think you guys really bring something to the industry that nobody else really does.
Joe:
I know you get me excited. I could keep going for hours on this. If there’s more just give us a call.
Mike:
Listen, we can do a second one down the road, so don’t be surprised if I ask you again.
Joe:
But before we do that, you’re going to be required to come back up to St. Louis and were going somewhere else on the hill.
Mike:
Are you serious? I got to come back up there and eat?
Joe:
It might even be dinner this time.
Mike:
Oh Golly. All right. I’m going to have you on next week.
Joe:
Nice.
Mike:
Well, John, Joe, thank you so much. To all our listeners out there, thank you for being part of our podcast. We are grateful for you. If you would like to recommend a guest to me, please email me at [email protected]. That’s treadpartners.com. Till next time, be safe. Be grateful, and have a great day.
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