Your family owned business Powerful words. Maybe more powerful than you know. K&W has been checking that box since 1951. Almost all of our customers are family owned as well, but do you feature this in your marketing efforts? An article in Harvard Business Review entitled “Study: Customers Really Do Trust Family Businesses More.” Some highlights: When Gilbane, a family owned construction company , hired a design firm for a rebranding, the designers surveyed Gilbane’s clients and came back with an interesting finding: Do not discount the fact that the firm is a “family-owned” business. Family-business branding builds trust: 76% of companies surveyed report that they refer to themselves as a family business in their marketing materials to establish a strong identity, differentiate, and build trust. Down the rabbit hole I went. There are many resources online that reinforce this notion. From, “6 Reasons Why You Should Shop at Family-Owned Businesses “Have you ever tried contacting a company with a big corporation, maybe about a return or a faulty product? Yeah, we’ve been there, too. It can be pretty tough to reach a customer support member via phone and, even when you do, there’s often a lack of communication on what can be done about your situation. Big businesses just have too much going on to be able to handle individual concerns all the time.” One source offered some action steps: Let customers know that your business is family owned. Don’t assume they all get it. Place “A family-owned company” or “From our family to yours” on your marketing items or even add it to your company’s name ABC & Daughters.” Try highlighting your family’s role by including photos of different generations of your family working in the business on your website and social media platforms. To read more just click HERE.

Indispensable Propoganda Hankook’s consumer rebate July 1st through August 7th up to $100 back. Cooper Medallion program Bonus Bucks runs to June 30 on AT3, CS5, SRX, and Rugged Trek.  Cooper consumer rebate runs to July 5th SRX, G1, CS5, Endeavor lines up to $70 back

Priceless Pop-Tarts or toaster pastries? The morning news told me that Kroger, the nation's largest grocery store chain, says consumers are “moving aggressively” away from big brand names and dropping down to buy more economical store brands. Will they do the same with tires? Will they drop down 1 or 2 tiers or, all the way to the bottom? Only time will tell. In the meantime... BLATANT SALES PITCH ALERT! We are lucky enough to have boosted our inventory of Westlake Tires just in time. We think they’re the best value in tier 3 import tires. Westlakes are imported by a company called Tireco. They’re based in California and have 1.5 million square feet of warehousing there so the tires arrive at K&W in only a week to 10 days after we order. Westlake has the broadest array of sizes in the tier 3 arena. 90 plus passenger sizes and 130 plus light truck and SUV sizes and that equals 95% market coverage. We’ve experienced a near zero adjustment rate over the last 6 years. Tireco is a proven, consistent partner. The opposite of the “container of the month” type supplier. No more struggling to match up a tire down the road.  Oh yes, of course, thanks for asking - Tireco is a family owned business successfully doing their thing for just over 50 years.

I’d ask for the doll’s name but that’s just too easy for a prize. You can email back if you’d like honorary brownie points.

Need to talk?  Call me 717.314.4949 Jeff Short

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