Driven to Grow: Performance Tire & Auto

By Kim Gronninger
Photos by Brian Peters

Performance Tire & Auto’s new Huntoon location expands access for Topeka customers while continuing an 80-year legacy of service, innovation and family leadership.

When customers drop off their car at Performance Tire & Auto’s newest location, which opened in June at 4124 SW Huntoon, they have options. A sports bar is next door and a barbecue restaurant is only a few steps away. As a result, waiting for an oil change feels more like an afternoon out.

“We’re surrounded by commercial spaces that might also be a draw for the new shop,” said Justin Glasgow, president of Performance Tire & Auto. “You can bring your car in for an oil change or new tires and then watch a game at Skinny’s or grab a meal at Herman’s Meat & Smokehouse. Over the years, customers have asked us for a more convenient, centrally located store while continuing to come to our North Topeka and SW Topeka Boulevard locations because of the confidence they place in our staff.”

Justin says the location had been on his radar as part of a multiyear growth plan. “I have always wanted the ability to reach all of Topeka and give our customers an easy way for us to help them with their vehicles,” he said.

The Huntoon site had housed Peerless for more than 30 years before Peerless sold to Gil’s Tire, a private-equity operator he described as based in the Northwest. After Gil’s ran it about a year and then closed it, the building came open.

“It was too good of an opportunity to pass up,” he said.

Performance Tire & Auto has been recognized as the best tire store in Topeka in several Topeka Capital-Journal online reader surveys.

“It’s such an honor to be referred to as the best because we’re not always the cheapest option and we don’t offer a unique widget that people would be willing to travel for,” he said. “But we still attract customers from Auburn and Holton and other towns who rely on our products and service.”

KEEPING UP WITH CHANGE

Tires once accounted for about 80% of the company’s transactions. Now, the split is 50% tires and 50% service. As modern cars have become more complex, so has the work required to maintain them.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are part of that shift.

“EVs present a new challenge because the vehicles are super heavy, and the tread compounding for their tires is different,” Justin said, adding that the shop has upgraded nearly all of its lifts to handle the added weight.

Brakes, suspension and climate systems still wear and need service much like a gas vehicle’s, he says, but the high-voltage systems demand specialized care.

“There are certain levels of training needed to work on them, as electricity has serious hazards.”

Since 2017, Justin has invested in expanded retail space and more advanced employee training. He recognizes that for many customers, a vehicle is typically one of the biggest purchases they’ll make, second only to a mortgage.

“An expensive car used to be a $45,000 import but now a new domestic car can cost $80,000 or $90,000,” he said. “There used to be a stigma that becoming a mechanic was an option for kids who weren’t strong students, but those days are gone. I need people who are smart and good with computers who want to tackle problems and fix them, so we hire the best and offer good pay and benefits.”

FINDING WHERE HE BELONGED

Justin originally envisioned a career managing college athletics. He worked in sports administration following his days of playing football for Seaman High School, the University of Kansas and the Miami Dolphins.

But after working in the field a few months, he knew he needed to make a change. “I saw the writing on the wall,” he said. “I knew I’d have to embrace a vagabond lifestyle to escalate my career and success required connections I didn’t have.”

Using the sales skills he cultivated working for his dad, he and his wife moved to Olathe, where he took a distribution job with the Boston Beer Company.

“Soon we had a couple of kids, and I was working on full commission,” he said. “It was an ‘eat what you kill’ environment and I realized I had to knock on doors every day while my dad had customers coming directly to him.”

In 2003, Justin joined the business his father had purchased in 1990.

When Justin bought the business from his father, Jerry, in 2013, he spent half his time waiting on customers and half managing the store.

“After buying the business, I remember going into the warehouse early on and I saw all these tires and thought, ‘This is my money sitting here now, and my responsibility to move the inventory,’” he said. “Most people never really know how hard their parents worked to make their life better, but I have literally walked in my dad’s shoes, and I’m so impressed by him.”

About eight years ago he decided to focus more on running the business and developing his managers and employees, with a goal of ensuring the company could meet changing technology and business challenges.

“My new day-to-day is a blessing and a curse,” he said. “I am now 100% focused on managing and developing the business.”

The downside, Justin says, is distance from the customers.

“I miss the social aspect,” he said. “Seeing them and watching their kids grow up in front of me. I really miss it.”

He says he hopes to see the company withstand the test of time.

“Our employees are our biggest asset,” he said, “and I want to make sure they have the actual tools they need to make their jobs easier and more enjoyable, as well as the soft skills and techniques they need so they can grow in the industry.”

He traces much of how he does things back to his father. Jerry’s approach included a willingness to spend on technology and stay open to innovation, while paying careful attention to customer relationships.

“My dad saw every customer not as a cash sale but as someone he wanted to get to know better,” Justin said. “He still misses the daily interaction with customers and employees, so he comes down occasionally to visit.”

Justin also uses his father as a sounding board. “Being an owner is like being on an island, but my dad’s been in this same spot too and has a perspective I can benefit from.”

CELEBRATING 80 YEARS

This year Performance Tire & Auto will celebrate its 80th anniversary. Justin said the company has marked the milestone on social media with specials and announcements, and that larger plans are in the works but on hold until the Huntoon location is fully up and running this month.

While the year the company was founded isn’t in dispute, the definitive date it opened is.

In 1946, Hugh and Helen Thurber were separated by World War II. Hugh was serving in the military in India while Helen lived in a boxcar and took in ironing for customers.

She bought gas one day and the attendant asked her if she knew anyone who would be interested in buying his two-pump service station. She sent a telegram to Hugh to let him know she thought it would be a good opportunity.

By the time Hugh sent a telegram back saying he didn’t think it was a good idea at all, she’d already bought the business.

Over time, the Thurbers built 24 locations across northeast Kansas. When convenience stores proliferated in the 1970s, they reduced their stores to three tire stations and hired Jerry.

“I am humbled by the fact that more than 20 families rely on Performance Tire & Auto for their livelihood,” Justin said.

EMBRACING THE ROAD AHEAD

He points to a shift in what the shop can handle. “There was a time when we would refer customers elsewhere for electrical or drivability concerns,” he said. “Today, we embrace those challenges.”

Justin says that for him, “money comes second to doing right by our customers.”

“The Thurbers were great people willing to take a gamble and it’s a wonderful origin story for our company,” he said. “The Thurbers’ forethought and my dad’s foundation of customer service have carried over to what Performance Tire & Auto is today. We’re excited to see what our continued legacy will be.”