Tire Discounters Restructures Leadership Team to Match Rapid Growth

This entry was posted on Apr 18, 2019 by Tire Discounters.

New leaders position company to innovate and scale faster expansion

The auto industry hasn’t seen such a flurry of innovation since the first Model T rolled off the assembly line.  Tire Discounters, the nation’s 7^th largest independent retail tire and automotive services company, is rolling out more stores than ever, on top of technology enhancements designed to improve its already award-winning customer service. 

Over the past year, Tire Discounters has been upgrading its digital platforms with projects such as a new warehouse management system, new learning management system, new phone system, and new point of sale software.  “We’ve completed the first phase of our technology upgrades. We’re now realigning our leadership team to streamline responsibilities and maximize the efficiencies we’ve gained with over the past year” says Crissy Niese, SVP, Chief Customer Officer.

Since Chip Wood opened the first store in 1976, Tire Discounters has grown to 116 stores and 1200+ employees in 6 states.  The company has doubled its number of stores since 2011 and is continuing to expand its footprint in both new and existing markets. “As we grow in stores, our leadership team is also adapting to meet the needs of our employees and business strategies. We can’t achieve future years’ objectives with previous years’ efforts. We are evolving, adapting and getting in front of what is coming. It’s such an exciting time to be at Tire Discounters.”” says Jamie Ward, President.

Among the changes to the company’s management team are the following:

David Cahill assumes the newly established role of Director of Training, Research and Development. David, who joined Tire Discounters at the end of 2018, is an experienced market leader, ASE Master Technician, and automotive training professional with over 25-years of automotive experience.  David’s responsibilities will include expanding the training program and leading future innovation.

Chris Albertz, 17-year TD Veteran was promoted in March to Purchasing Manager to help identify and incorporate new systems for improving merchandising and other store focused solutions.

Dave Chirello is promoted to Division Director of Sales. Dave, a 25-year veteran of the retail automotive repair industry with experience leading markets across the south, will oversee sales and operations in AL, GA, TN, and KY.

Eldon Riggs, is named Director of Retail Operations and is responsible for the new Indianapolis expansion, opening 7 stores currently under construction over the next 2 months. Eldon joined last year after more than 25 years building and growing the formerly family-owned Indianapolis retailer Tire Barn.

Aaron Eck, Jim Phillips, George Reynolds, and John Ross, all recently joined as field leaders. The addition of these new field managers will position Tire Discounters for success as it opens 19 stores over the next 12 months, an even faster pace than recent years.   The new field leaders, with 90+ years of collective multi-unit automotive experience, will be supporting and leading new and existing markets including Dayton, OH; Huntsville, AL; and Knoxville, Tennessee.

Brandon Grubbs, a seasoned Tire Discounters leader with over 9 years of Tire Discounters experience assumes the new position of Director of Commercial Sales and Service.  Grubbs will lead business development for the Northern and Southern Divisions.

“I’m excited about the changes to our Sales and Operations teams.  The folks we’ve assembled are more experienced than any I’ve ever seen.  We’re scaling up the team to provide best-in-class support as we continue to grow our footprint across the Midwest and Southern United States.” says Charles Curlee, Vice President Retail Sales.