Andonian takes outside shot with Evans Tires

ESCONDIDO - In the scramble and scrap of schoolyard basketball, quickness and drive can nullify the advantages of size and height - a good thing for someone like John Andonian, who stood 5 feet 5 inches tall when he played guard for Hoover High in Los Angeles in the early 1970s.Then as now, what he lacked in height he made up with desire. "I had some basic talents and then my ambition to win," Andonian, chief executive officer of Evans Tire Co., said by phone recently. "My strength was my quickness and my defense.I (also) had a good outside shot." More than 30 years later, Andonian still prefers the David role to that of Goliath. Defying the odds andtire industry giants such as Costco and Firestone, he has grown revenues at Evans from $9 million to $22 million in six years. A family-run businessbased in Escondido, the company's fortunes were sagging when Andonian took the helm. He was, in effect, buying the nine-store chain from himself, as Evans was owned by AKH Discount Tires, which was run by Andonian and his brothers.The franchise was a fixer-upper.

"Even though we had been in the market for almost 20 years, the name identity was very low," he recalled.He found the stores in need of remodeling and the work force in need of motivating. He made other changes, too -- such as a bold new purple and yellow colorscheme for the stores, which now number 16, and a higher marketing profile in print and radio. But Evans needed more to draw attention to itself inthe competitive San Diego market. Andonian realized that it couldn't just be price. "If it's just about price, you've got the Wal-Martsof the world and the Costcos, and you just can't compete with them," he said. The differentiator, he saw, was customer service,or "value-added programs." Evans offers free alignment on purchases of selected tire brands, as well as free tickets to such places as the SanDiego Zoo or Legoland California. In recent years, the tire business has changed, he said, with customer demand

pushing auto companiesto offer more tire options for their cars. "Ten to 15 years ago, 20 tire sizes hypothetically covered 60 percent of the market," Andonian said."Now, you need maybe 40 or 50 sizes to cover 40 percent of the market." Some things haven't changed. Evans is still very much a family enterprise.Andonian, married 20 years to his wife, Cynthia, says all three of their children have shown an interest in working in the business -- particularly his sonAlex, 20, who attends Southern Methodist University in Dallas: "My theory is go to school. Graduate. Go work somewhere for a couple years -- then let'stalk about it." It's an attitude Andonian´s parents would recognize and respect. "My parents wanted more for their kids," said Andonian, whose Armenianfamily immigrated to the United States in 1969. For his part, he has thrived and prospered on the slopes of uphill battles. He said stepping in to run an already-successful company wouldn't be the same."Keeping the status quo would be OK," Andonian said. "But certainly fixing (a company) and growing it would be more challenging for me. I like to run companies, I like to make them successful. I like to make them winners."