White countertops in the lobby of a tire shop? It’s a bold move, but one that the Tire Kingdom chain is testing in its new “store of the future.”
The chain this month unveiled a shiny prototype at 3615 Northlake Blvd., an unincorporated area just east of Interstate 95.
Related: Parent of Tire Kingdom, Midas chains expands in Palm Beach County
The 6,800-square-foot repair shop includes several hundred-thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment, such as laser readers that test tires’ tread depth. The Tire Kingdom store also features a sleek waiting area with gourmet coffee, along with a sales desk on a white countertop.
That color choice might prove untenable in an operation where grease and grime are part of the job, acknowledged Bill Shull, a division vice president at Tire Kingdom.
“As we open more stores, we’ll continue to refine this model,” Shull said.
One feature not included in the design is air conditioning in the repair bays. There are fans, but during the summer mechanics will suffer through the heat.
“It can be 100 degrees in here,” Shull said.
Amid a difficult retail environment, many merchants have tested stores of the future. But the challenges facing Tire Kingdom aren’t as dire as those threatening big-box retailers and department stores. Shull says demand for tires and oil changes isn’t going anywhere — even if self-driving cars take over the driving, Americans still will be traveling by car.
The Tire Kingdom chain launched in West Palm Beach in 1972 when entrepreneur Chuck Curcio started a business at the West Palm Beach Farmers Market. Over the decades, Curcio expanded to operate hundreds of stores in 20 states.
These days, Tire Kingdom is a unit of TBC Corp., the Palm Beach Gardens-based owner of the Midas, Big O Tires and NTB Tire networks.
Tire Kingdom has 188 stores in Florida and plans to expand to more than 200 locations by 2020. NTB has more than 500 stores.
TBC also owns the Big O Tires and Midas franchise systems.
Tire Kingdom’s tallest task these days is finding workers in an era of 3 percent unemployment. Young workers who have turned away from “middle-skill jobs” that don’t require a college degree but pay well.
“Our biggest challenge is human capital,” Shull said.
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TBC has been expanding its headquarters in Palm Beach County. A decade ago, Florida lured the company with a $400,000 incentive. Palm Beach Gardens was vying with Chicago, Atlanta and Memphis for the retailer’s main office.
In 2012, the state and the city of Palm Beach Gardens offered an additional $2.3 million in job-creation incentives.
The subsidies seem to have paid off. In 2009, TBC had 310 full-time employees at its headquarters.
Now, TBC says, it has more than 750 workers in Palm Beach Gardens. As part of its incentive package, the company promised to hire 50 workers at an average salary of $86,500. Average wage for the new hires has topped $90,000, TBC says.
jostrowski@pbpost.com
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