Steve Jensen removes the lug nuts from a Ford Expedition in preparation to balance the tires. Photo by Ryan Lely.
“If it’s a tire, we do it.” That’s how Les McLea describes his family’s business, McLea’s Tire Centers, which in June opened its fourth location, in the former Muff N Stuff muffler shop on Highway 12.
His father, Bill McLea, opened the family’s first tire shop in Santa Rosa 29 years ago. Les, age 20, was in charge of sales; his brother Rick, age 18, was a tire changer. Bill McLea retired in 1997, selling the business to his two sons, who expanded to Petaluma in 2000 and to Cotati in 2003. The brothers had been looking to expand east of Highway 101, so they acted fast when the shop in Sonoma became available earlier this year.
The chain employs some 65 people in its four shops and many are longtime employees, including the Sonoma manager, Glen Houde, at 13 years. McLea’s son Darren, who started changing tires when he was 14, has returned to the company and at 26 is the assistant manager in Cotati. McLea’s daughter Danielle, now in college, also worked in the shop when she was in high school and is the person her friends turn to when their cars won’t start.
McLea’s sells the major tire brands for cars, trucks, big rigs and agricultural equipment and operates a fleet of service trucks that takes care of tires on site. The shop also offers a full range of automotive repairs that come with a nationwide warranty. As McLea explained it, 20,000 dealers across the country are available to help a customer who has a problem on the road. A call to a toll-free number can turn up the location of the nearest one.
McLea’s Tire Center,
19285 Hwy. 12, Sonoma, 707.931.7900;
www.mcleastire.com
8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Monday – Friday
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
