COVER STORY
4
CHARGING FORWARD
St. Lucie Battery & Tire experiences growth
spurt during tough economic times
TCBusiness.com
St. Lucie Battery & Tire, at 54 years old, is
about to experience another growth spurt.
Even without adding any stores, the
Fort Pierce-based privately held company
with 235 employees is poised to become
one of the top 50 largest independent
tire dealers in the United States as private
equity and consolidation take out some
of those with more than the company’s 17
outlets service centers.
Doug Miller, company president, says
it’s a reasonable aspiration that in the next
decade, St. Lucie Battery & Tire will double
its number of outlets, and further diversify
into commercial and agricultural centers in
the state’s interior. Sixteen of its locations
are in cities near the Atlantic coast from
Sebastian to West Palm Beach, with a commercial
and ag center in Okeechobee.
But, Miller, 51, says the company has no
ambitions to become a national or even
statewide Goliath.
“I can see fill-ins from West Palm Beach
moving back north. We just added another
location in Sebastian. I see expansion
in Sebastian and further expansion into
the Indian River County market, as well
as possibly expanding our location in
Okeechobee and, quite possibly, more rural
markets, where our super center model
plays well.”
In particular, he mentioned new fullservice
operations in rural but fast-growing
cities, possibly in Clewiston, LaBelle,
Sebring, Lake Placid, and others where
farming and larger commercial vehicles
need service, batteries and tires.
Battery comes before tire in the company
name because batteries came first.
Now, tires and tire services account for
about half the company’s revenue, which
Miller declined to disclose. Batteries and
auto parts account for another quarter of
the revenue, and labor makes up the rest,
he said. Oil changes are not central to the
business. Miller said most of the oil change
customers are already in one of the shops
for tire service. >>
BY BERNIE WOODALL
MICHAEL P. SCHNEIDER
Doug Miller, president of St. Lucie Battery & Tire, relies on having the space to warehouse one of the most varied tire inventories among independent tire dealers
in the United States. Doug has led the company since taking the reins from his father, Joey Miller, a dozen years ago.
/TCBusiness.com