Business Is Strong at Stokes Tire Pros

Although the economy is as deflated as a flat tire, business is thriving for Castellammare resident Jon Stokes, owner of Stokes Tire Pros in Santa Monica. His shop also services brakes, shocks and struts, and does vehicle maintenance and oil changes.   This third-generation family businessman thinks that one of the reasons his company has been so successful in a down economy is honesty.   ’If you bring your car in and tell me you want new brakes, and we look and see you still have two months left, I’ll tell you to bring the car back in two months,’ Stokes said. He gives the same candid advice to customers who believe they need a new set of tires.   In addition, Stokes credits his long-time employees, who have been specially trained in helping car owners select the right tires. ‘I have quality employees,’ he said. ‘They’re about putting good wheels on your car.’   Stokes has been in the business of fitting tires for Vipers, Lamborghinis, Porsches and BMWs, as well as family cars and vans, for more than 30 years.   One challenge he faces is helping customers understand tire costs. ‘People don’t realize that tires are tied into petroleum prices. Tires now cost 25 to 30 percent more than two or three years ago.’ Stokes said. When asked if the recent plunge in oil prices will result in lower tire prices, he said no, and cited several factors, including rising shipping costs .   ’America is not a manufacturer any more and products are not made here,’ he said, noting that the leading tire manufacturers have plants worldwide.   Another factor is the trend in automobile manufacturing to give each new car a specific tire, which means all of the models require different tires. Manufacturers make more tires, but less of specific models, and less production of an item results in higher costs.   Last Friday morning, a high-performance Viper was having four wheels replaced at a cost of $2,000.   ’A race car cannot do what it can without the specialized rubber,’ said Stokes, who spends his spare time racing cars in the Super Unlimited and Super Touring classes at Willow Springs, Button Willows and Fontana racetracks. In 2006, he won a Sportsman of the Year award, and in 2007 he was a time-trials champion with his Caterham Super 7.   ’Tires will win a race or lose it,’ Stokes said. ‘I can change how the car feels or handles just by changing the tires.’ The Stokes family business history began in the late 1930s, when Jon’s grandfather, Bill, opened a gas station on Pontius and Idaho in West Los Angeles.   His father, Jack, eventually opened four stations, the last of which was located on 10th and Wilshire in Santa Monica in 1966.   Beginning at age 9, Stokes worked in that station, helping to wash windows and check tire pressure alongside an employee who was also a hockey fan. Because of that influence, Stokes wanted a career as either a professional hockey player or a rock star. ‘Either would have been fine,’ Stokes said, laughing.   After graduating from North Hollywood High School, where his favorite class was woodworking, Stokes started his career with a furniture company. His goal was to make enought money to go to hockey camps and spend more time with his rock band, Witness. So when he had enough money saved to support himself for awhile, he would quit. And when he ran out of money, he’d go back to work.   That lifestyle stopped about 35 years ago when his dad bought a retail tire store at 1117 Santa Monica Blvd., where Stokes Tire Pros now stands. He gave up his lease on Wilshire and combined the service station and retail business crews. When several employees didn’t get along, and quit, Jack asked his son to help.   ’I was working in a high-end, cabinet-building store, and I would have kept that job forever,’ Stokes said. ‘What was supposed to be short-term turned into my life career.’   With his 13 employees, it is obvious that Stokes likes where he is in life. ‘I enjoy amateur racing, I enjoy interacting with customers and I enjoy the business,’ said the 18-year Palisades resident, who has three sisters who grew up in this area: Kim, Christy and Kelly. Contact: (310) 393-0767 or visit www.stokestirepros.com.