Sample Pages
- Front Cover
- Back Cover
- Page 82 | Arizona Invasion
As the company began to grow, Halle and Von Voigtlander worked less in the tire shop and spent more time managing the business. Halle was fulfilling a promise he’d made to Dave Fairbanks, Al Olsen and others by creating the opportunity for advancement. Read more…
- Page 92 | Airborne Incentive
Eventually, the flight on a company jet would be a standing commitment for Halle. When any store reaches $200,000 in monthly sales, Halle sends a company plane to take the full-time employees and their significant others on an outing. Read more…
- Page 99 | Betting the Store
It was also the kind of risk Halle would never accept today, but he was more fearless, possibly reckless, in those years. He thought the company’s momentum was strong and sustainable, which made it less risky than it appeared. Read more…
- Page 170 | On the Border
The corporate office doesn’t set the rules for Tahoe, because the corporate office doesn’t run the show. Unlike most corporate retreats, it’s the workers and not the suits who are the honored guests. And the ticket to entry is earned in the store… Read more…
- Page 171 | Storming the Beach
The sun is bright and the lake is a glorious blue as hundreds of warriors gather on the beach for the kickoff of Discount Tire’s fiftieth anniversary celebration at Tahoe. An airboat zips across the water and makes it only partially up the shore as the Marine Corps Hymn plays and Staff Sergeant Bruce Thomas Halle storms the beachhead. Read more…
- Page 173 | Beer Pong
Halle and his son work their way down the beach toward the snack tent, but the elder Halle is waylaid as guys from Discount Tire Direct and the Nevada region indoctrinate him in the finer points of beer pong. He watches for fifteen minutes, until the business expert has figured it all out. Read more…
- Page 174 | Alone in a Crowd
Halle is alone here, both the center of the event and somehow outside of it. It’s one of the contradictions in life that the leader of twelve thousand
employees is most engaged when talking to one at a time. In a crowd, he appears more comfortable as an observer than as a participant. Read more…
- Page 183 | Responsible Growth
Even with a “responsible growth” strategy in place, the target of forty to fifty new stores has Halle walking several times that many sites each year. Once a site is chosen, it can take a year or more to build and open a store, and most of the long-term benefits from those stores will accrue to a company that no longer includes Bruce Halle. Read more…