Mitton Family Sells Popular Downtown Tire Store Founded in 1966
Robin Paul and Tim Mitton in front of Big O Tires store
NANAIMO – There won’t be Mittons at Big O Tires this winter.
Tim Mitton and sister Robin Paul completed the sale of the long-time downtown Nanaimo business at 391 Albert Street to “Deb” Debashish Mukherji just before Christmas, and while Tim is “retiring” and still owns Big O Tires in Ladysmith, Robin will be working with husband Steve Paul at Alberni Transmission at 130 Cliff Street.
Father Jim Mitton started his first store, OK Tire, next to where the Salvation Army is located on Nicol Street in 1966, before moving to Albert Street in 1969, where it became Big O Tires in the 1970’s.
He built the company through hard work and friendly, outstanding customer service, which his children learned from firsthand as they grew up in the business.
“Tim worked here all through high school, so from when he was 12 years old, and he opened the Ladysmith Big O Tires store when he was 21,” notes Robin, adding Tim has Roy Logan managing the Ladysmith outlet. “I feel kind of nostalgic thinking back on it all, as this has been our family business for my entire life. As long as I’ve been alive this business has existed, and it’s been a big part of our family.”
Today, Big O Tires offers repairs and tires from Michelin, Toyo, Yokohama, Pirelli, Continental, General, B.F. Goodrich and Uniroyal. They didn’t always have that many tires to offer.
Jim was president of the Big O Tires buying group for many years, and his quick thinking and ingenuity helped drive the business forward.
“Michelin back in our early days were very selective about who their dealers could be, and they didn’t feel that the volume from Big O was big enough because we were a small franchise, so didn’t want us to sell their tires anymore,” Robin recalls. “So Dad said, ‘Okay, that’s fine,’ and he did something about it. He made a sign and advertised 2 for 1 Michelin tires, and went out and bought one Michelin tire and put it in the window.
“One day the Michelin rep showed up and we were very busy, he was furious, and demanded to talk to Dad, who told him he was too busy to talk. He told Dad ‘you’re not Michelin dealers, you can’t do that’. Customers would come in and ask about the Michelins, and Dad would say, ‘Oh, I don’t have those in stock, but I have these ones,” and they’d buy other tires.
“Needless to say, we became Michelin dealers once again.”
That story is but one concerning the colourful founder.
“Dad was a feisty little guy, but he had a great heart,” she recalls of Jim, who passed away in 2014. “He loved to laugh and have fun. Life was for having fun in his mind. He was a very skilled sales person, but he was never about trying to sell people something they didn’t need.”
One of the greatest values Jim instilled in Tim the younger Mittons was to look after people, first, something the store is known for, as well as their cheery, welcoming demeanour.
“Service is just so critical,” states Robin. “You’ve got to provide good, reliable service for people, and try to take good care of them the best you can all the time. I’d rather deal with happy people myself, and it’s not really that hard to do.”
Robin looks back at her Big O Tires time with great fondness.
“We’ve been so fortunate that we’ve had fabulous customers over the years and we’ve developed many friendships that we value greatly,” she says. “We would like to thank everybody for all the loyalty and the trust, coming back year after year, and bringing in other family members. We’re thankful to have the opportunity to get to know them.”
By Mark MacDonald