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Corky's father, Harold, started the Coker Tire Company in 1958 with the vision of making rare and obsolete tires commercially available to antique car collectors.

An Introduction to Coker Tire


In 1974, Corky Coker was handed the reigns of the fledgling antique tire division of his father’s Chattanooga-based B.F.Goodrich dealership. He sold vintage tires, which represented less than five percent of the company’s total business, out of a 500 square foot space at the back of the retail center. Today, Coker Tire’s antique tire division accounts for 95 percent of the business and is the world’s largest and most prominent supplier of antique and classic tires for automobiles, trucks and motorcycles. Coker ships tires to every state in the U.S. and more than 32 foreign countries. The company now occupies some 95,000 square feet of space in six buildings nestled in the historic Southside district of downtown Chattanooga. Coker has faced and conquered many challenges and much adversity over the course of the last 31 years. Coker Tire is coming up on it's 50th Anniversary iand according to Corky, each obstacle has made Coker Tire stronger and better positioned for the future. What follows is a brief account of Coker Tire’s struggles up the industry ladder to success and market leadership.


The Success of Coker Tire

Corky’s father, Harold, started the Coker Tire Company in 1958. Harold Coker had the vision of making rare and obsolete tires commercially available to antique car collectors. This vision came from first hand knowledge of the needs of the car collector and hobbyist, as he himself was one among their ranks. Having collected and restored cars for years, Harold recognized the need for this specialty area that his fellow hobbyists had so often demanded. The vision itself presented an obvious challenge: Would the car collecting and auto restoration hobby grow enough in popularity to support this niche antique tire business now and in the future?

With one part gamble and two parts gut instinct and hunch, Corky set out to make an attempt at the vintage tire trade that was really only in its infancy. Corky’s job initially was to determine first and foremost, how to produce tires that were no longer being manufactured or supplied, which sizes would be most popular and how to market, sell and

distribute them. Source of supply would be the first paramount hurdle to clear. Early on, he also faced the tasks of increasing his offerings of tires and brands, developing a customer base, and designing a marketing program that would evolve most efficiently with this type of business. The early years taught Corky a valuable lesson about adversity. Corky says that he never looks at adversity as an obstacle. It is merely a hurdle that can and will be overcome.

As time passed and Coker Tire became increasingly more successful, the growing pain was the one pain among many that persisted the most. Managing the rapid growth of the company that the resulting tire sales were generating became Corky’s primary objective. A growing number of employees, increasing inventory, limited office and storage space, export demands, advertising and public relations needs, and computerization all contributed to the struggles of this once small family business turned full-fledged industry leader.

Although he didn’t know it in 1974, much of what Corky Coker would do over the course of the next 20 years or so would actually define the vintage tire industry.

To overcome the formidable challenge of initially producing tires, Corky determined early on that he would have to be his own best source of vintage treads. He bought molds from original tire makers if they still had them. He literally searched the world for old tire molds. He traveled to South America, the Philippines and Australia to acquire molds from old factories. He was able to reproduce molds from drawings when the originals were long since lost. Not having the capital necessary to open a manufacturing facility himself, he negotiated contract production in Pennsylvania and Ohio for domestic supply. Contract manufacturers in Taiwan, Chile, Vietnam and India would supply export customers.

He brokered deals with major tire producers that secured Coker Tire the worldwide licensing agreements and exclusive distributorships to big-name vintage brands. These brands included B.F. Goodrich, Firestone, Michelin and U.S. Royal thus increasing the variety of products available from Coker Tire Co. In addition to tires, Corky saw a need for the company to create another division to sell tire related accessories and collectible automobilia. This division markets a variety of diverse products from tire and whitewall cleaners to officially licensed Michelin memorabilia.

To grow his customer base in an industry with no recognized method of distribution, Corky initially went to his customers. He would load a small van with tires and one employee and they would work the endless weekends of car shows across the country sleeping in the back to save money. Later larger trucks took the place of the van. Show travel became and still is the mainstay of Coker’s commitment to its customers. Today, Coker Tire attends nearly 60 shows a year utilizing a fleet of tractor-trailers.

Travel to the various car shows was good for business, but Corky wanted to take it one step further. As the era of mail order came into full bloom, aggressive advertising efforts targeted to car collectors and enthusiasts put the company’s catalog in the hands of thousands of new potential customers.

Coker Tire’s marketing efforts then and now rely heavily on catalog phone-in sales and order fulfillment. Perhaps the key component to Coker’s success lies in the mail order aspect of the business and most primarily with that of customer service. Corky knows the importance of customer service and responded to its challenge by hiring good people, paying and treating them well and also by establishing the “No Sweat” return policy. It simply states that the customer is always right. Period.

Corky is meeting the challenge of growing pains by hiring people on an as needed basis. Coker Tire’s antique tire division started with one employee in 1974 and today has grown to more than 40. Full-time managers now oversee the Exports, Advertising/Marketing, Customer Service, Sales, Distribution and Accounting Departments. Manning the more than 25 inbound phone lines, are 17 full-time Customer Service Representatives. The company’s Web site, www.coker.com, is now a full e-commerce site with complete online ordering capability. Corky acquired additional warehouse space for increasing stock and renovated the second floor of the main building for office space. The order and shipping system is completely computerized as well as all employees being networked together.

How did Corky Coker do it? He will tell you that Coker Tire Co. has succeeded for a variety of diverse reasons not the least of which include his drawing strength from his faith and family plus a good old-fashioned dedication to a strong American work ethic. He has surrounded himself with like-minded, enthusiastic people who he leads by example. He believes in the principles and values of hard work that this country was founded on and applies them in every aspect of his life and management style.

As a testament to his success, Corky was named the Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Tennessee in 1995. The Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO) named Coker Tire 1997 Manufacturer of the Year. ARMO is the auto restoration arm of the Specialty Equipment Market Organization (SEMA), the world’s largest automotive aftermarket trade organization. Additionally, Corky was inducted into the ARMO Hall of Fame in 1998 for his outstanding contributions to the collector car hobby. After serving numerous years on the SEMA Board of Directors, Corky assumed the chairmanship of SEMA in 2003, making him the first chairman to come from the Restoration/Street Rod segment of the automotive aftermarket. Most recently, in 2004 Corky was awarded the prestigious Meguiar’s award, honoring the Collector Car Hobby’s Person of the Year.
 
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