Case Analysis: Tire Rack
1. Case Introduction
Somebody ought to stock a few of every tire, sell them over the phone, and ship
them, thought Mike Joines when he had trouble finding the right performance tires
for his sports coupe.
Joines approached his father-in-law, Peter Veldman and help him open a retail tire
store. After seven years, they were making so may phone orders; they closed the
store and added phone lines.
Veldman now is president and patriarch of Tire Rack, a family-owned Internet and
mail-order tire retailer. His wife, four of their six children and two son-in-law also
work for Tire Rack.
Tire Rack sells name-brand tires to consumers and to other retailers. For
consumers, Tire Rack ships to its network for recommended installers, or to their
homes, or to the service shop of their choice.
Customer service is Tire Rack’s priority. Joines says the goal is offering the “best
product at the right price in the shortest amount of time”
The company, which has more than a million square feet of warehouse space in
four locations, says it sells more than 2 million tires a year or a set for every 100
people who buy tires. Its website gets 2.4 million visitors a month, more than any
other tire company and more than many automakers, according to Alexa Internet,
an Amazon.com company that ranks Web traffic.
They are really a private family. None has been profiled in the media, and the
privately held company refuses to release financial information.
(O’Donnell, 2003, p. 3B)
2. Analysis
2.1 How does Tire Rack sell its products?
Tire Rack sells its product such as tires, wheels, springs, etc through internet
and mail-order (http://www.tirerack.com/about/whytirerack.jsp). They are selling
multiple brands, not pushing only one brand; therefore, customers have many
choices to choose the most suitable product for their needs.
Customer service is Tire Rack 's priority. Its goal is offering the best product and
Somebody ought to stock a few of every tire, sell them over the phone, and ship
them, thought Mike Joines when he had trouble finding the right performance tires
for his sports coupe.
Joines approached his father-in-law, Peter Veldman and help him open a retail tire
store. After seven years, they were making so may phone orders; they closed the
store and added phone lines.
Veldman now is president and patriarch of Tire Rack, a family-owned Internet and
mail-order tire retailer. His wife, four of their six children and two son-in-law also
work for Tire Rack.
Tire Rack sells name-brand tires to consumers and to other retailers. For
consumers, Tire Rack ships to its network for recommended installers, or to their
homes, or to the service shop of their choice.
Customer service is Tire Rack’s priority. Joines says the goal is offering the “best
product at the right price in the shortest amount of time”
The company, which has more than a million square feet of warehouse space in
four locations, says it sells more than 2 million tires a year or a set for every 100
people who buy tires. Its website gets 2.4 million visitors a month, more than any
other tire company and more than many automakers, according to Alexa Internet,
an Amazon.com company that ranks Web traffic.
They are really a private family. None has been profiled in the media, and the
privately held company refuses to release financial information.
(O’Donnell, 2003, p. 3B)
2. Analysis
2.1 How does Tire Rack sell its products?
Tire Rack sells its product such as tires, wheels, springs, etc through internet
and mail-order (http://www.tirerack.com/about/whytirerack.jsp). They are selling
multiple brands, not pushing only one brand; therefore, customers have many
choices to choose the most suitable product for their needs.
Customer service is Tire Rack 's priority. Its goal is offering the best product and
References: • Books Hillstrom, K., Hillstrom, L.C., 2002, “Encyclopedia of Small Business A-I Volume 1” (2nd ed.), Gale Group – Thomson Learning Megginson, L., Byrd, M., and Megginson, W., 2005, “Small Business Management – an entrepreneur’s guidebook” (5th ed.) McGraw-Hill Thai, H.T., 2007, “Marketing in the internet age”, Labour and Society Publiser