Zolmantire.com
Title
Zolman Tire, Mishawaka, IN - Firestone, Michelin, Bridgestone - tires, wheels, automotive service
Description
Bud Zolman and his wife Diane were newly married in 1963 when he started with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as an office and credit manager in Bloomington, Indiana. He held that position for several years before transferring to his own store to manage in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
It wasn’t long before Bud Zolman had the opportunity to be transferred again, this time to Indianapolis, Indiana. At the same time, his district manager, Ray Monteith, decided to open a store of his own in Warsaw, Indiana, and made an offer to Zolman. Bud made the decision to work with Ray, and subsequently became a partner. The two entrepreneurs eventually expanded their operations into several other stores.
In 1978 Ray offered Bud the opportunity to sell out in Warsaw and open his own store in Mishawaka. Bud and Diane, with three grade school age children, thought that the “Michiana” area had more to offer their family. That first year was very tough for the Zolmans. The prime interest rate had skyrocketed to 21%. Worse yet, Firestone had just announced the recall of its Firestone 500 tire. Zolman couldn’t sell a single Firestone 500 in stock. All of Zolmans current customers received FREE tires because of the recall, so he would not be seeing them for a few years. Recovery from these disasters took several years.
Contact
- BKR Studio Inc.
-
- South Bend IN
- United States 46601
-
- +1.5742459576
