Les Schwab
Leslie Bishop Schwab was born in Bend, Oregon, on October 3, 1917. His family moved to Minnesota two years later with the young Les in tow. Then in 1929 the family moved back to Central Oregon where Schwab was schooled in a railroad boxcar. This boxcar schoolhouse was at a logging camp in Central Oregon. At age 15 Schwab became an orphan and began delivering the Oregon Journal newspaper. At the paper he would eventually cover all the routes in Bend, nine in all. He then completed his high school education, graduating from Bend High School. After high school he married his high school sweetheart Dorothy Harlan before becoming circulation manager for the Bend newspaper, The Bulletin. Schwab then served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Les Schwab’s venture into the tire business began with him buying OK Rubber Welders in 1952. Previously, Les had never even fixed a flat tire before. He borrowed $11,000 from a relative, sold his house, and borrowed from his life insurance policy, and purchased the small shack that did not even have running water or a bathroom. From this grew a billion dollar tire “empire” based in Prineville, Oregon, that had 410 stores and $1.6 billion in annual sales by 2007. The company he built was based on the loyalty of the employees that was earned by giving them generous shares of the profit (half of a store’s profit went to employees of that store), lucrative benefits, and only promoting from within the company. In the communities served by these stores, the company became known for their advertising featuring employees running out to meet customers, an annual free beef promotion, and the company slogan: "If we can't guarantee it, we won't sell it.". Despite the success of the company, Les Schwab refused to take the company public. Les and his wife Dorothy had two children, Harlan and Margie. Harlan died in an automobile accident in 1971 while Margie Schwab Denton died in 2005 from cancer. In 1986 wrote an autobiography, Les Schwab, Pride in Performance, Keep it Going . In the late 1980s he gave up day-to-day control of the company. In the early 1990s he and his wife donated funds to the local hospital to fund an expansion in honor of his son. Then on Friday May 18, 2007 at the age of 89 Les Schwab died in Prineville after his health had begun to fail in late 2005.
1 Books Written
This is the story of Les Schwab and his company. He tells how he started in the tire business and shares with the reader his ideas on building a successful business through building successful employees. Les is a businessman not a writer, but like in business, he gets his points across. He is the undisputed king of the tire business in the Pacific Northwest. His is the largest independent tire business in the world and he makes it look easy. If you are in business or want to be in business you must read this book.