COVER STORY
shipments were about to be scarce, Miller significantly hiked his
purchases, leaning on the company’s warehousing ability. When
the supply chain issues hit, independent tire stores that rely on
just-in-time inventory often left customers waiting, Miller said.
“We continue to be all-in because the supply chain is not fixed
and it’s not going to be fixed anytime soon,” Miller said. “I don’t
see normalization until, maybe, the end of 2023.”
BUILDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The ability to keep high inventory levels differentiates St. Lucie
Battery & Tire from other independents. In the 2021 rankings of
the largest U.S. independent tire companies’ store count, it was
67th, according to the publication Modern Tire Dealer. Only the
biggest one, Discount Tire, with 1,100 stores, offered more tire
brands than St. Lucie Battery & Tire, which had 16 stores last year.
The company is often celebrated for its civic activities, which in
recent years has included providing landscaping, sod and volunteers
for Habitat for Humanity homes. Miller says he will continue
to support Habitat, but much of the company’s efforts along those
lines will shift toward building affordable housing, primarily for St.
Lucie Battery & Tire workers.
The first round of five living spaces, houses that will be lease
or lease-to-own with financing help from the company, and a
rental duplex will go up in the next year, Miller said. After that, he
hopes to build two or three houses per year. This is being done
in the face of a housing cost crisis that makes it difficult for the
average worker to make ends meet. It will also prove to be a good
recruitment vehicle at a time when the highest-level auto and tire
technicians are tough to get.
St. Lucie Battery & Tire’s signature location may be its third store, in downtown Fort Pierce, which opened in the mid-1980s. In 1998, the plain concrete building
was fitted with a new roof of Spanish-style architecture matching neighboring historic buildings and serves as a gateway to the core downtown shopping district.
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