Like many in the automotive industry, Joshua Day was born into it. In 1979 – three years before Josh was even born – his father, Paul Day (above), became the very first mechanic at the then newly-opened Big O Tires® franchise in Woodland, Calif.
Company at a Glance
Locations: Woodland and Elk Grove, CA
Type: Tire franchise & auto repair
Facility Employees: 18
Sq Footage: 5K in each location (10)
Bays: 6 bays and 1 alignment rack in each location
Contact Information:
Woodland: (530) 405‑9357
Elk Grove: (916) 689‑6700
“My dad worked very hard, every day except Mondays and Sundays. He was always available for us in the evenings and on his days off, but other than that he was working.”
He passed that work ethic on to his son. Josh remembers vividly the Memorial Day weekend that unexpectedly jumpstarted his career.
“I was fourteen, and my father ‘invited’ me very forcefully to come down and join the ranks. I thought I was going to have a fun three-day weekend and I ended up going to work. This past Memorial Day weekend I celebrated 27 celebrated years in the business.”
“They put me through a lot of training, and I did all the different positions, so I learned how to wrench on cars. I learned how to talk to customers. I learned the technical side.”
Josh’s first position at the Woodland Big O Tires was as a tire technician, and when he graduated from high school, he became a service writer. Although he thrived in sales, he also worked in every other capacity at the store over the next few years.
He remembers the store first using ALLDATA on CDs, when updates had to be loaded manually. (For context, ALLDATA Repair launched online in 2001, which then allowed for updates to be published daily from manufacturers for new and existing vehicles.)
At the age of 23, Josh was offered a partnership and bought a small share of the Woodland Big O Tires store, joining his dad and another partner. Josh and his dad took over full ownership in 2006.
“We had ups and downs as you can imagine; it's a very volatile sort of industry. We bought Mark [the other partner] out in 2006 and then two years later the market crashed.”
ATI taught us some things that we weren't doing, which was great. They helped us recover a lot of costs that we had been giving away. That was also when we started using ALLDATA more to look up hourly rates and procedures instead of guessing how long stuff takes. Then we started doing more in-depth mechanical repairs. Coupled with the backing from ATI, we were able to turn the business around.
After the crash, Josh and his dad faced a tough decision. It was either sell or figure something out. They chose to figure something out, partnering with ATI (Automotive Training Institute).
“ATI taught us some things that we weren't doing, which was great. They helped us recover a lot of costs that we had been giving away. That was also when we started using ALLDATA more to look up hourly rates and procedures instead of guessing how long stuff takes. Then we started doing more in-depth mechanical repairs. Coupled with the backing from ATI, we were able to turn the business around.”
When his dad retired in 2020, Josh took on a new business partner, long-time store manager Taylor Crabbe. Together, they fine-tuned the shop and programs, taking the store from $1.7MM to $2.7MM in three years.
In December of 2023, they opened their second location in Elk Grove. The partners were well aware of the huge growth potential in the area. Sacramento County’s first tribal casino opened in Elk Grove in 2022 and the Sacramento Zoo is relocating to an all-new 65-acre location in Elk Grove, both of which are driving people and new businesses to the suburban community.
ALLDATA really helps because we're not necessarily like a Ford specialist or a Tesla specialist, but having the factory-direct information available gives us more confidence going forward to be able to accurately calculate how long a job will take and what the specifications and procedures are.
“It’s hard opening a new store, but it’s been good. We’re confident that the business will be thriving in the next year or two. We want people in the community to know that we're here to serve them and to provide quality service. We aim to be quick, efficient, and convenient for people to get a majority of their vehicle’s mechanical needs taken care of. Not just tires, but brakes and shocks and fluids, everything from maintenance to more advanced repairs.”
Both the original Woodland Big O Tire store and the new location in Elk Grove are 5,000 square feet. Each has six bays and one alignment rack. Taylor manages the Woodland store with 10 employees, while Josh heads up the Elk Grove location and its 8 employees.
“ALLDATA really helps because we're not necessarily like a Ford specialist or a Tesla specialist, but having the factory-direct information available gives us more confidence going forward to be able to accurately calculate how long a job will take and what the specifications and procedures are. Plus, we get training on ALLDATA from people like Emily Clifford [Josh’s ALLDATA account manager] on how to find things and take full advantage of the software. So that’s great. We've been able to really leverage that to our benefit.”
Another way the Big O Tire stores leverage ALLDATA is to present customers with the manufacturer's recommendations along with the CARFAX maintenance history to validate the store’s estimate.
“We try to be like a doctor's office where we want to give them an update on their vehicle’s overall health.”
We use the OEM recommendations from ALLDATA to make sure we're accurately following OEM specifications and procedures.
Once they’re able to assess the customer’s needs, the service writer uses the ALLDATA program to determine exactly what is necessary for the job to be quoted out effectively. On the service side, they’re just as adamant about giving their technicians the tools necessary for them to be efficient.
“We use the OEM recommendations from ALLDATA to make sure we're accurately following OEM specifications and procedures.”
In case you were wondering, the ‘O’ in Big O Tires stands for ‘opportunity.’ And that’s exactly what Big O Tires has been for Josh Day and his family. An amazing opportunity that evolved into a 27-year career, and now enters a new era with a new location.
“Our immediate goals are to stabilize the second location and to show them [Big O Tires corporate leadership] the kind of growth that we feel we’re capable of. We’re still implementing and refining processes. Once we stabilize the Elk Grove store and make it thrive, we’re going to expand to other locations.”
ALLDATA wishes Josh and Taylor continued success with their Big O Tires expansion and thanks them for being loyal ALLDATA customers.
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