Even though there is a new Les Schwab Tire Store just down the street and at least nine other businesses in town that sell or service tires, Savendra Dutt is confident that his new Big O Tires will do just fine in Hollister. Perhaps the Fiji native can’t be blamed for feeling the way he does because he and his brother, Raj, already own more than 20 other Big O Tires franchise stores throughout Northern California. Their two newest stores are opening in Hollister and Morgan Hill.
The store’s scheduled soft opening is Dec. 20, with the grand opening in February. The business is located near the corner of Airline Highway and Sunnyslope Road, in the same building where the short-lived Farm Fresh Produce Hollister, which was owned by Nader Javid, had been.
In a somewhat murky and contentious business relationship that ended in a lawsuit between Javid and Randy Marino, of Watsonville, Javid told BenitoLink last January that he would be opening a Big O Tires after liquidating the Farm Fresh Produce Hollister business.
In fact, according to Dutt, he—not Javid—owns the Big O Tires, as well as the adjacent SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service, which he bought from Javid in 2013. Dutt said Javid still owns the land and two buildings, but not the franchises.
“When he decided to open the market, he approached me to see if I was interested in it (SpeeDee),” Dutt said, adding that he believes Big O Tires will do well because Les Schwab is the only other branded store. “Big O Tires is nationwide and we know about the growth in Hollister at more than 6,500 new homes coming. Based on that, we decided to open here.”
He explained that another part of the decision-making process was also based on the fact that anywhere from 50 to 75 people bring their cars into SpeeDee every day for oil changes and other services.
“Putting a tire store next to it makes sense,” Dutt said. “People are servicing their cars right next door and if they need tires they can just walk next door.”
He said he is waiting for the city to issue a certificate of occupancy, which he expected to receive any day. Bryan Swanson, Hollister’s development services director, said the store would receive the certificate as soon as its shelves are stocked.
“It’s like a dress rehearsal,” Swanson said. “They must pass their final inspection, which means the store will be ready to open to the public. Outstanding improvements had to be done for the final inspection. The city certificates is essentially saying this business is safe and available with products.”
As confident as Dutt is with the store’s potential, he said he is having difficulty finding skilled people. The new store will be providing at least six new, full-time job openings, but until Dutt is able to find local mechanics, the 10 employees in the SpeeDee facility will be helping out, along with others from his San Jose store.
“We tried to get more locals, but right now it’s hard to find mechanics and tire guys,” he said. “We’ve had ads running for almost three months. I guess people just don’t want to work. We have stores from Placerville to Hollister, and we face that problem at all of our stores. Skilled people are hard to find.”
Big O Tires, LLC., with headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is the second-largest franchiser of tire retailers in the United States, with more than 380 in 19 states. Savendra and Raj Dutt’s 20-plus store chain is headquartered in Redwood City.
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