Les Schwab, 89; Oregon man who built up regional tire shop chain

Les Schwab, 89, a cowboy-hatted icon of Oregon who turned a dilapidated tire shop he bought in 1952 with borrowed money into a regional empire, died Friday in Prineville, Ore. Schwab had been in poor health in recent months, his company said. The cause of death was not announced.

With his ironclad policy that the customer rules, he built the run-down shop into a chain of 410 stores that did $1.6 billion in sales last year.

Les Schwab tire shops with their red-and-yellow signs are fixtures in small communities, and some big ones, across the West.

“I never thought I’d do $1 million in sales, so I’ve been 1,000 times more successful than I ever thought I’d be,” Schwab told the Associated Press in an interview in 2003.

The privately held company employs 7,000 people. It adds about 20 new stores a year and pays for them in cash, Schwab said.

The company said family members will continue to run it.