"When Les Schwab died May 18 at 89, the company he founded from scratch in 1952 had annual sales topping $1.6 billion and 7,700 employees."
"Chief Executive Dick Borgman reaffirmed the company's commitment to running the business the way its namesake did.
"Les had very clear principles about how he wanted the business to operate," he said in an e-mail exchange with The Oregonian. "The best way to ensure continuation of those principles is for the family to retain ownership of the company."
It could be a tricky transition, since both of Schwab's children have died.
His wife of more than 70 years, Dorothy, and four adult grandchildren survive him. All are on Schwab Tire's board. Borgman said they, and he, will rely on the traditions that built the business to carry it forward.
"I plan to continue Les's unrelenting focus on providing world class customer service through extensive employee training and continued employee profit-sharing programs," said Borgman, a longtime Schwab Tire executive named CEO in December.
Schwab shared yearly profits from each store with its managers and staff. That helped produce employees who worked like race car pit crews, rushing out to greet customers on arrival.
Schwab Tire promoted exclusively from within, creating a consistent corporate culture across 410 tire stores in eight states, from Alaska to Utah.
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