Plenty to do – TGI enjoys 14 consecutive years of growth
Although almost five thousand miles lie between the Messe Essen exhibition halls and Tire Group International’s headquarters in Miami, Florida, attending Reifen 2012 provided the US-based wholesaler with numerous business opportunities. When Tyres & Accessories spoke with TGI’s CEO Tony Gonzalez, he shared that he and his colleagues had spent time with a lot of quality buyers during the show week.
“It is always great to see friends from around the world,” Gonzalez commented. “All in all it has been productive and we’ve closed come business. We’ve had a lot of interest from the Middle East and some from Asia.” Despite the strengthening US dollar, he added, TGI’s customer base in these regions is growing, complementing the company’s core US and Caribbean region business. “We are establishing our Astro and Cosmo private labels in Africa and the Middle East,” the CEO added. “We are enjoying success and visiting many shows around the world. There is plenty for us to do at the moment.”
Tony Gonzalez shared that business at TGI is up almost 20 per cent year-on-year this year, mainly due to good sales in its core markets. The wholesaler is also growing through a series of strategic acquisitions and partnerships, and during the week of Reifen 2012 it announced the formation of a partnership with Tire Warehouse, Inc., a tyre distributor with a focus on the construction, industrial, forestry, earthmover and agricultural tyre segments, primarily in the US and Caribbean regions.
Commenting on the new partnership, TGI’s vice-president of Business Development, Osvaldo Marchante, said “our strategic partnership with Harvey and Rick Malove, along with their key management personnel, will allow TGI to strengthen our position in the fast growing off-the-road market segments.” Tire Warehouse’s Rick and Harvey Malove stated they are “looking forward to our new partnership with TGI. As a result of this partnership, we shall further enhance our main focus of continuing to offer top quality products and services to our customers.”
“Our new partnership with Transportation Resources Partners is positioning us to capitalise on strategic opportunities while continuing to grow our core business,” commented Tony Gonzalez. “We are pleased to welcome Harvey and Rick, along with their team, to the TGI family. By combining TGI’s and Tire Warehouse’s experience and capabilities, we will further solidify our long-standing relationships with major OEM’s and be able to expand our product offering to our valued customers.”
Overall, TGI has been fortunate, Gonzalez told T&A. While some of its global competitors have experienced ups and downs in the last few years, the Miami-based wholesaler has to a large extent been insulated from the economic issues experienced in many places. “We even managed to achieve growth in 2008. To date TGI has experienced 14 years straight growth.”
Of course, being successful is not just the result of having the right products being geographically well-positioned. As Tony Gonzalez puts it, it’s “about getting up an hour earlier and going to bed an hour later than the competition. It’s also about treating customers fairly and with respect. Our aim is to acquire new customers without selling our existing customers short.”
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