Working as a salesman for a tire wholesaler, Mike Price called on a small tire store in Sylvania. When he made his pitch to Cotton Kimbrough, the owner of the store, Cotton told Price that he was not interested in buying anything, but he was interested in selling his business.
        The seed was planted. Price took a week of vacation in 1986 and spent it working to craft a deal with Kimbrough to purchase the tire store.
        "When I told my employer at the time of my intentions he asked me not to buy a store within 150 miles of his store in Folkston," Price said. "Cotton's Tire was exactly 153 miles away. The first week I took over as owner of Cotton's Tire he sent me a truck load of tires free to help me get on my feet."
        Price, his wife Marcia, and their team in Sylvania have built a great reputation for amazing deals, excellent service and high integrity. Starting in the business as a wholesaler allowed Price to have a unique understanding of what products were moving and how to find the best deals.
        "Like any other product, I knew that the wholesale tire stores that were getting the best deals were the ones buying larger volumes," Price said. "The more you buy, consistently, the better the deal. I purchased two warehouses and focused on buying large inventories of tires so I could get the best deals possible and pass it along to my clients."
        Price began looking for opportunities to expand into other markets. He attends church at Believers Statesboro and made the trip over several times per week and saw firsthand the growth in the market.
        "I was considering expanding to Statesboro but had not pulled the trigger," Price said. "Then one fateful day, a Statesboro car repair and tire store owner showed up at my store in Sylvania bragging about how much business there was in Statesboro. He then told me that I could never make it in Statesboro operating a tire store."
        Price accepted that challenge and opened Automotion Tire in an old two bay service station at the corner of North Main and Parrish Street. He had found a supplier of Grade A used tires and knew that no one in the market was selling quality used tires. The idea was a huge hit and business thrived in Statesboro.
        The shop was too small to handle a car lift so they did all the work with hand jacks.
        Every morning they performed the "tire roll" where they rolled all of the day's inventory out of the bays to the front of the store so they could work.
        Late last year, Mike acquired the old Rigdon shop from Rex Rigdon at 245 North Main Street, which is directly behind the small location they were renting.
        They have completely renovated the shop and rebranded it from Automotion Tire to Cotton's Tire. The new location is more than 7,000 square feet, with five bays and is managed by long time Cotton's Tire manager, Corey Weaver.
        "Customers are coming in to the new store and asking if we put Automotion out of business by opening up on top of them, not realizing we are the same owners," Price said. "In the few months we have been operating out of the new location we have seen a dramatic shift, in new tire sales. The old location was 95 percent used tires. Now we have seen those percentages change to 60/40."
        Weaver and the Cotton's Tire team have done an amazing job sprucing up that area of North Main. It is encouraging to see local businesses repurposed and brought back to life. Price has more plans to expand and continue to make a positive difference in our community and help grow that part of our city.
        Please email DeWayne at dgrice@statesboroherald.com or give him a call at (912) 489-9499.