Advertising FeatureGet the right tires for your driving lifestyleWe often think of tires as round bits ofrubber that never change. After all, theylook the same as they did 20 years agowhen Rocky Island Tire opened thedoors to their Taylor Road shop. Butlooks can be deceiving.Greg Smith, partner and tire expertsays there is a lot more technology intoday’s tires than in the past. He says thematerials are much better and newdesigns can also make cars more fuel efficient.Almost all major tire companies arenow producing tires that offer greater fuelefficiency and that are made with moregreen content.“As cars changed, the tires had tochange,” he says. “When engineersdesign a car they want the tires to do veryspecific things. By selecting a differentMechanic Phil Starbuck preparesto balance a wheel at the garage.tire, you can change the performance ofyour car significantly.”Today, as more cars come equippedwith lower profile, higher performancetires people need to be realistic abouthow long they will last.“Higher performance means betterhandling in the corners but a shortertread life,” Smith says. “Some peoplewant to replace the tires with a modelthat will last longer, but they need to realizeit may negatively affect the cars handling.It is very important that you selectthe right tire for your vehicle.”Selecting the right tire is important forsummer driving, but even more so whenit comes to winter. Smith says the biggestchange in recent years has been the emergenceof winter tire technology.When all season tires first came outthey were almost as good as the winterproducts of the day.“Now winter tire technology has leaptforward so far that there is a huge gapbetween what an all-season and a wintertire can do for you,” he says.He explains today’s winter tires aredesigned with multi-cell rubber and siping,which are “tiny cuts in each treadblock that gives thousands of bitingedges.”Because of this, the tires handle andturn better on ice. Snow tires have alwaysbeen good on snow, but Muskoka is seeingmore ice on the roads than in the pastso the improved grip in braking, corneringand accelerating with the new styletires is important.As a result, more and more customersare using snow tires again.“For proper results with winter tiresyou should be using four tires rather thantwo,” Smith cautions.And it’s not just car tires that havechanged for the better, light trucks tires arealso benefiting from the latest advances.“People can get off-road tires, summer,winter or even dual purpose tires,” hesays. In the past there wasn’t the optionfor people to put performance orientedtires on their trucks.Mechanic Doug Lauder to mounts a tire on a custom rim.What becomes obvious talking toSmith is that tires are not a simple business,and the need for expertise andconstant training to stay on top ofdevelopments is important. RockyIsland Tire does this by being membersof the Alliance Tire Professionalsgroup, affiliated with Michelin’s premierdealer’s group.“It means you are dealing with professionals,”says Jamie Vanderveer,Greg’s business partner at Rocky Islandsince day one.As members of the Alliance Group,staff at Rocky Island Tire Company Inc.,get special Michelin direct training.“It is not available to all dealers,” saysGreg who has achieved the highest levelof training available.Through Alliance, they sell Michelin,BFGoodrich, Uniroyal and a few othertire lines. “We also sell Toyo, Yokohama,Goodyear, Bridgestone, Firestone, Hercules,Carlisle and almost any otherbrand you are looking for,” says Greg.To make sure those tires are installedcorrectly, they feature the latest in tirechanging and balancing equipmentallowing them to deal with everythingfrom lawn and garden tires to the mostcomplex of custom rims.“Having the proper equipment onhand means that we can do the jobquickly and correctly and that adds pieceof mind for the customer” says Jamie.Rocky Island has always been a proponentof correctly disposing of used tiresand notes the Ontario government’s newtire stewardship fee ensures tires are disposedof properly. Greg explains the fee isincluded on all new tire purchases but theresult is that it costs nothing to get rid ofthe old tires that are being replaced.“There is no longer a fee at the time ofdisposal and that is to encourage peopleto recycle their tires rather than throwthem in a ditch somewhere,” he says.While lots has changed over the first20 years one thing remains constant, thepeople behind the counter atRocky Island Tire know tires – and awhole lot more.Rocky Island is built on customer satisfactionWhile many businesses talk aboutcustomer satisfaction, Rocky IslandTire Company has grown and adaptedits entire business plan around meetingthe needs of its customers.“Without the customer, we wouldn’thave been here for 20 years,” says JamieVanderveer, who with Greg and GordSmith started the company in 1990.When it opened, it was a large tirestore with full mechanical services.Over the years, it has grown to includemany more products, making it a onestopautomotive shop.While best known for selling mainlinetire brands, Rocky Island staffalways take the time to find unusual orhard-to-find items.“We’ll do everything we can to get itfor them,” explains Greg. “Over theyears we’ve developed an extensive networkof sources and suppliers.”Along with specialty tires, customersstarted requesting special rims andother hard to find items. The RockyIsland team realized the best way toserve their customers was to expandtheir offering and source more of theseproducts, including custom car andtruck accessories.As custom trailer hitches becamemore popular, they expanded tobecome the local trailer hitch professionals.Jamie says, “We were justresponding to the needs of our customersagain.”It stands to reason that if you selltrailer hitches, people will ask abouttrailers. In classic Rocky Island style,they decided that carrying a completeline of trailers was the best way to meetcustomer demand.Each year Rocky Island Tire givesaway four or five sets of tires, supportingevents, teams and not-for-profitorganizations as their way of givingback to the community. The donatedtires are a small part of their annualcommunity contributions.“Things that interest our customersdrive our donations,” says Gord,adding they have supported the hospital,theatre and Sportsplex in the past.Jamie and Greg make sure to stay intouch with customers by normallyworking the front counter in the shop,supported by assistant managers.“The beauty of this business is thatyou can still deal with the owners,” saysGord.“We are accessible,” say Greg andJamie. They want to stay connected totheir customers to they can continueto build the business in a way that haskept customers happy for the past 20years.“We wouldn’t have been in businessif it weren’t for our customers.”22 <strong>June</strong> <strong>2010</strong> www.whatsupmuskoka.com
Advertising FeatureIt’s about treating customers rightContinued from Page 1748 years. “It’s nice to still be part of the business. Ienjoy it.”Gord does a lot of work behind the scenes, explainsJamie. “It allows us to stay at the counter and dealwith the public,” he notes.Jamie is a licensed mechanic but now spends mostof his time working directly with customers.“I want to be sure to understand the problems withyour car,” he says. “So I can translate the symptoms tothe mechanic and ensure a quick and proper diagnosisand repair.”Tires, both wholesale and retail, are the responsibilityof Greg who is Michelin Alliance Gold certified,meaning that he has gone through all of the Michelintraining programs, right to the top.“With the experience I’ve got and the training I’vetaken, I can solve tire problems and recommend thecorrect product for any customer vehicle,” says Greg,who also specializes in custom wheels and rims.The three men are from Port Sydney and chose thename Rocky Island after an island located not farfrom the Port Sydney Beach.“We wanted to maintain our tie to that communityand the small-town feel,” says Gord.Before their days in the tire shop, Jamie and Gregworked at Smith’s Restaurant and Service Centre,which was owned and operated by Gord and his wifeBarb in Port Sydney for 27 years. After selling it, theyopened Rocky Island Tire Company Inc.Combined, the three of them estimate they haveabout 120 years of experience in the industry.When it opened in 1990, the business had just thethree original partners plus two employees. Today theJudy and Jamie Vanderveer and Greg and JudiSmith are ready for the future at Rocky Island.Rocky Island Tire Company employs 17 people.“We wouldn’t be in business if it weren’t for ourcustomers,” says Gord, explaining that is what thebusiness is all about and has been about for the past20 years. “They have treated us well over the years andwe’ve treated them well in return.”Photograph: Sandy Lockhart▲▲▲▲▲▲▲All the best fromConsulting Engineers110 Kimberley AvenueInfrastructure <strong>Bracebridge</strong>, ON P1L 1Z8Site SuitabilityLand DevelopmentMunicipal EngineeringStorm Water ManagementCivil Works for Golf Courses & ResortsEtc.pinestone@pel.cawww.pel.caTelephone 705-645-8853andMedical SupplyMuskoka Mobility2 BRIGHT NEW SHOWROOMSFOR YOUR SHOPPING PLEASURE• Sales • Service• Rentals • New & Used950 Muskoka Rd. S., 687-4796GRAVENHURST230 Manitoba St., 645-2177BRACEBRIDGE (Beside Walk-In Clinic)www.muskokamobility.comCongratulationson your 20th anniversaryCongratulations on20 years in business!~ Greg & Colleen KnappBest wishes for continued successThe staff atD.G. Bevan Insurance Brokers Ltd.(705) 726-3381It has been our pleasure to servethe team of Rocky Island Tire Co.and we look forward to the next20 years helping you grow.From your partners and friends atMAP <strong>Bracebridge</strong>19 Taylor Rd.645-8785GRAVENHURST FURNITURESERVING MUSKOKA SINCE 1949PH: 687-2217171 MUSKOKA RD. S.knapps@bellnet.caAPPLIANCESSIMMONS Sleep Centrewww.whatsupmuskoka.com <strong>June</strong> <strong>2010</strong> 23
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