Les Schwab Tire Centers

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Les Schwab Tire Centers

Type	Private
Founded	1952
Headquarters	Prineville, Oregon, United States
Key people	Philip (Phil) Wick, Chairman Dick Borgman, CEO
Industry	automotive, retail
Products	tires, brakes, shocks
Revenue	$1,360,000,000 (2006) (est.)
Employees	7,700 (2006)
Website	lesschwab.com
data^[1]

Les Schwab Tire Centers is a tire-selling retail chain operating in the western United States. Founded in 1952, the company is named for its founder Les Schwab. Headquartered in Central Oregon, the private company employees over 7,000 employees in eight western states.

[edit] The company

Les Schwab Tire Centers is a chain of tire stores based in Prineville, Oregon, founded in 1952. In addition to tires, the company sells a variety of other auto parts and auto related services, including brakes and shocks. As of 2007, the chain operates more than 410 stores^[2] in Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.^[2] The company does more than $1.6 billion in sales each year^[2], and, according to the AP,^{[citation needed]} is the number-two private tire retailer in the United States. Forbes magazine ranks Les Schwab as the 324 largest privately held company in the country.^[1] Modern Tire Dealer has called the Les Schwab "arguably the most respected independent tire store chain in the United States."^[2]

On December 12, 2006, the company announced that it would be moving the corporate headquarters to nearby Bend, where a growing number of its executives live. Dick Borgman became CEO on the same day.^[3]

The company is known for:

Its employee dress code, which includes above-the-collar hair cuts
Associates who sprint to customers’ vehicles as they pull in to park^[2]
An annual February "Free-Beef" promotion started in 1963 to boost sales during slow late-winter months
The closing of all Les Schwab stores on Sundays