Les Schwab Tire Center

When I started scouting Vermillion, South Dakota, for a potential Les Schwab Tires location, there was one trade area that immediately stood out. The outparcels in front of the existing Runnings store, directly across the street from Walmart. In a town that size, that intersection was clearly the retail gravity point.

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When I pulled the ownership records, I noticed something unusual. The property wasn’t owned by a private developer. It was owned by the local Chamber of Commerce. That raised my curiosity, so I picked up the phone.

 

I ended up speaking with their economic development director, who explained that the Chamber had purchased the land intentionally so they could have some control over how key sites in the community were developed. I told him exactly what I was trying to do: bring a Les Schwab Tires store to town. He mentioned there was another group sniffing around the property, but they hadn’t submitted an offer yet.

 

At that point, Les Schwab hadn’t even officially entered South Dakota. But I knew expansion into the Dakotas was coming, and in a market like Vermillion, there was really only one place a store like that would go. This was it.

 

So I trusted my instincts on the site. I made an offer without even talking to Les Schwab first.

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The Chamber was excited to see a real proposal, and we moved quickly to get the site under contract. Once I had it tied up, I brought it to Les Schwab and walked them through the location and trade area. Thankfully, they saw the same thing I did.

 

They loved the site.

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By moving first and controlling the property early, I was able to protect the optionality for them before competitors ever had a chance to step in. We ultimately moved forward with the project and added a brand new Les Schwab store to Vermillion.

Sometimes the best deals come from trusting your site selection skills and having the conviction to move before everyone else catches up.