Never Quitting

What would it take to make you walk away from your tire business? How about losing five of your 10 tire stores to fire in one of this country’s worst urban riots? Not enough? How about having to sell three of your remaining tire stores to avoid bankruptcy?

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Still not enough? What about losing one of your two remaining stores to yet another fire?

That’s what happened to Hank Feldman thanks to the Los Angeles riots of 1992.

Let’s add some more to this horror story. What if your mom and dad divorced as the business began to grow? Or what if your mother, the matriarch of the business, died at her desk just as the business was running smoothly? And next, Glenn, a brother who stood by your side and cried when the next to last store burned to the ground, now has health problems that limit his participation in the business.

Somehow, Feldman, co-owner of Performance Plus Tire and Automotive in Long Beach, Calif., has found a way to manage all of this turmoil in his life and his business.

He gives lots of credit to his wife, Joyce, who has been his biggest cheerleader. “Together, along with my new business partner, Ricky Oropeza, we have risen out of the ashes to become a $12 million a year business with a goal of moving that number to $20 million a year,” says Feldman.

“All of us believe that if you take care of your employees, your customers and your community you can’t go wrong,” he says. Sound corny? It isn’t, and nobody knows that better than Feldman, who unquestionably has suffered more than his share of personal losses and business hardships.

From near devastation – or what could have been – Feldman and Oropeza have prevailed. Taught from childhood to never quit, Feldman has turned his life into a success story by remembering what his parents taught him. “I believe there is no substitute for hard work,” says Feldman. “At a time when this business needed to rise, we worked night and day to help it rise and it did.

“Our number one priority today is to quickly recognize what our customers want and sell it to them,” says Feldman. “We work doubly hard at qualifying our tire and wheel salespeople and stand behind everything we sell.”
This includes free-of-charge replacements of parts that don’t fix the problem or tires that end up being the wrong choice for a customer’s needs.

“I see this as our mission,” says Feldman. “Here in Long Beach, we live in a very diverse area that 500,000 people from all over the world call home. It’s our job to be an automotive steward to each and every one of them.

Everyone who works for me knows how I feel about this,” he says. “It is my strongest belief that if we don’t take care of the customer someone else will. Our customers need to know they can trust us. If we can’t live up to their expectations, we lose.

“We know that buying tires isn’t fun so we are respectful of the customer’s time,” he continues. “Thanks to our huge inventory we are able to fit a set of tires and perhaps wheels for most of our customers on the spot. They want fast service and we provide it because we can’t fail the customer. If they want low-end tires we have it, if they want high-end we have it.”

Smart Advertising
You’ll find his ads in specialty publications, cable TV and even pamphlets from “Antique & Retro” where buyers generally shop for vintage furniture and lighting, as well as custom upholstery and shoes. Feldman’s ad may look out of place in such an upscale publication, but he pulls in a lot of tire customers and others for the money he spends.

One of his most important advertising successes was birthed on Public Access Television in the Long Beach market area. “I had been watching 30-second infomercial spots on Local Access Channel 3. I was interested so I called the station and asked if we could create a five-minute infomercial and they said yes.  We aired three nights a week and once on Saturday morning.”

To say that it worked would be an understatement. “We had people lined up outside waiting to get in,” says Feldman. “Later I saw a 30-minute infomercial I liked, so I went back to the station and asked if I could buy a 30-minute infomercial. At a price of $50 each I bought three 30-minute spots which aired at 8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.”

Once again, more customers showed up at Feldman’s front door.

“After three months I asked if I could sign a longer contract – like five years. We signed an agreement, but a little over three years later Time Warner bought out Channel 3. They turned me into a tire dealer poster boy with 10-minute spots that came out very nice. People liked and appreciated the honesty in the ads.”

Special Services Offered
For his high-performance and show car customers, the Long Beach dealer offers custom metal polishing for wheels, brake parts, water pumps, air cleaners, headers, engine cases, calipers, alternators and valve covers, to name a few. Performance Plus Tire will also straighten damaged wheels, re-chrome a wheel and perform custom metal polishing with everything from aluminum, brass, copper, bronze, stainless steel and even commercial polishing. Nitrogen is offered free-of-charge with every tire installation.

“Our customers asked for this type of service so we offer it,” says Feldman. He also maintains a $1.2 million dollar inventory stocked deep with passenger, light truck, UHP, vintage, drag and specialty tires from all of the world’s top tire manufacturers.

Long Beach is certainly diverse, but it also has a discerning – often upscale – customer base. So Performance Plus stays ahead of the competition with a broad range of services ranging from a shuttle service, a nationwide warranty of service work and a free 30-day trial on tires to on-site custom wheel and parts polishing, custom suspension lifting or lowering and complete service for performance, vintage, race, and off-road customers. Then there are the free flat repairs, rotations and rebalancing on all tires he sells, the free tire inflation checks and the free nitrogen inflation for new tires sold.

A Winning Team
Feldman figures that if it’s the right thing to do, he should be doing it. This especially holds true when it comes to taking care of his employees, the majority of whom are TIA- and SEMA-certified. Feldman also offers a profit sharing program to his staff.

“All of us know that the market dictates the price at which we must sell, so we go the extra mile to provide extra value to the customer,” he says. “I have empowered all my people on the sales counter to keep the customers happy. Yes, we must make a profit, but we must also get better every day at selling the right services.

“Our customers are buying all of us and they know that if we aren’t getting better at our work, we’re getting worse,” Feldman continues. “That’s one reason we sell 5,000 tires a month on average. We know the big boxers and chain stores can’t get their arms around selling and servicing tires, wheels and vehicles, so we need to be the best at what we do.”

He says the key is to know how to respond to both the customers and current market conditions in order to meet success. “We have become great observers. We look at our customers and their vehicles and ask a lot of questions in order to find the right answer. In so many ways, this is what separates us from the competition and it’s not easy work.”

Feldman describes himself as a self-made man. “Though I’m somewhat small in physical stature I made the freshman football team, but when the really big guys started to take their toll on my body I told mom and dad I was quitting. ‘Oh no you’re not,’ they said. ‘You never quit.’ Maybe that’s what has driven me all these years,” says Feldman.

“Not long ago I decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with some friends. Why? I really don’t know, but it was something I always wanted to do and now I’ve done it. The way I see it, life is all about chaos and change. How I respond will determine my success or failure. I also believe that if you work hard you can reach your goals. There is no substitute for hard work.”

Despite all the pitfalls and tragedy, Feldman says this is the best time of his life. “And I want my employees to feel the same way,” he says.