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Valerie and Warren Lee Durand (Lee) founded Lee’s Tires
Inc. in 1984. Lee had worked for just about every company in
the Tidewater area doing everything from changing tires to turning
wrenches. His main goal was being in the tire business; so,
simply by word-of-mouth, Lee began working out of his home selling
used tires on Sundays. Every Sunday morning Lee would have six
to ten cars outside of his house waiting to have tires changed
or flats fixed. His faithful customers would wait until the
end of the week to have their tire service done because they
knew Lee would treat them right. Lee’s customers trusted
him and his work. As you know, it is really hard to take your
vehicle to someone that you can trust. Lee said, and I quote
“Trust is the most important relationship that you can
have with your customers. Once you lose that, you might as well
pack up shop.”
After working out of his home for five
years, the City of Norfolk, threatened to fine him up to $1,000.00
a day; so, Lee rented and refurbished a two-bay gas station
on Beamon Ave. and Azalea Garden Rd. that became his first
location. While at Beamon Ave. and with custom wheels becoming
more popular, Lee knew he was going to need a much bigger
location. It was then he purchased the current location on
Azalea Garden Rd. and East Little Creek Rd.
After closing his location on Beamon Ave., Lee opened the
two-acre location at 7851 Azalea Garden Rd. With very big
plans for this new location, Lee knew he had his work cut
out for him. It was going to take all of his time and effort
to make his plans come true. After years of working 10 to
12 hours a day, seven days a week, Lee built his multi-million
dollar business. He now has a two-story showroom with over
one million dollars of in-stock custom wheels, along with
a six-bay garage just for front-end and exhaust work. The
garage is run by one of the best front-end specialists in
Hampton Roads who has worked for Lee for over 15 years. Lee
also had a nine bay garage built in front of a two-story tire
warehouse filled with thousands of new and used tires with
four to six specially trained tire changers on hand. To this
day, Lee still handpicks his used tires; after all, those
second-hand tires and his keen eye of what’s right for
the customer is what got him where he is today.
Lee now has four children and much bigger plans. He has purchased
another location in Norfolk on Ballentine Blvd. With plans
to open in 2004, the new location is over three acres of property
where Lee plans to wholesale new and used tires to the Hampton
Roads area. He will also house “Lee’s Cool Scooters”
at the Ballentine Location.
Who knows, with Lee’s hard work and dedication to the
business and with his children to take over if he ever retires,
Lee’s Tires could be one of the biggest tire stores
in the United States. For someone who has worked since he
was seventeen years old it is very well deserved!
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