THE LINDER STORY

When Henry Linder (1909-1999) paid $2,800 for a bankrupt tire business in 1932, Linder Tire Service began its remarkable 70 year (and counting) journey.

This family business has spanned three generations. After Henry retired in 1974, his son John C. Linder took over Linder Tire. Now John’s son, John J. Linder, works in the family business. But the immediate family is only part of the Linder Tire adventure.

The current employees of Linder Tire have accumulated over 300 years of experience in this store—they resemble a family themselves. Many arrive at “the shop” early each morning, for coffee and talk and camaraderie around the large glass table looking onto Riverside Drive. At 7:30, these professionals open the doors and take care of their customers.

The “family” designation even extends to customers. Linder Tire proudly serves third and fourth generation customers, farm families and businesses, local clientele and people who travel from a distance. In addition to their customers from across Iowa, Keith Jurgens drives from Texas, Frank Thomas from Florida and Bill Deitz from Wisconsin. An air care pilot from Chicago comes to buy racing tires.

Safe travel on quality tires was Henry’s purpose when he opened his two-room business at 21 East College Street (the site now occupied by the southeast corner of Old Capitol Mall, formerly the JC Penney store). Linder Tire’s purpose remains unchanged. Since the Linder family arrived in the Iowa City area over 150 years ago, it has all been about family integrity.

John Linder’s great grandparents, Anton and Anna Linder, settled north of Iowa City in 1845 on “Lime Kiln Farm”. Anton and his 8 children mined limestone for lye (firing limestone for three days and nights). The lye was used in mortar for the construction of early Iowa City buildings, including St. Mary’s and St. Wenceslaus churches. Henry’s father, Otto, farmed north of the Iowa River, in an area now called Linder Point.

In 1925, after his father’s death, Henry and his mother moved into Iowa City. After graduating from City High, 17-year-old Henry’s interest in crystal radio sets led him to a job at Bernie Sparks Standard Tire. There, beginning in 1926, he repaired radio sets in the winter months, and worked on tires in summers.Linder Tire opened in July, 1932. That month, as the Great Depression dragged on (forty percent of the country’s banks were out of business), Franklin Roosevelt accepted the nomination for president.

In Linder Tire’s second month of operation, with 11 million Americans out of work, Henry hired Bill Poggenpohl. As of that August, 1932, Bill and Henry’s families became lifelong friends. Bill worked at the shop through his 88th year.

The College Street store had no indoor work space. Changing tires outside, sometimes in 20 below zero winter weather, was the only option for decades to come. Though the store’s work ethic has remained constant, the tire industry has changed greatly. Five years after Linder’s opened, the first synthetic (petroleum-based) tire was manufactured by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. By 1950, half of all tires produced used synthetic rubber.

In 1939, Henry side-mounted two extra tires on the front of his own car, put a third spare tire in the trunk, and drove to central Mexico with his new bride, Grace Kovar. The roads were treacherous; sometimes streams had to be forged; but the tires served them well. This journey was the first of many enjoyed by Grace and Henry over their 59 years together. They traveled extensively on five continents, establishing the family’s love affair with travel.

As the tire business evolved, Henry demonstrated rubber tractor tires in the fields of area farmers, converting steel wheels to pneumatic rubber tires. Henry, an innovator, was one of the first in the industry to test various tread rubber compounds.

During World War II, with materials in short supply, Linder Tire’s vulcanizing department operated 22 hours a day. After the War, Henry added a retread facility to his growing business.

John, Grace and Henry’s second of three children, was born in 1945. John and his siblings, David and Sarah, grew up at 120 North Dodge Street, a home built in 1852. For many years, Grace taught weekly classes in her kitchen, for the wives of foreign students. The women practiced English, cooking and generally learned about life in America.

In 1952, Hercules Tire and Rubber was born. Henry established the Midwest Hercules Tire Group in 1960, with five Eastern Iowa dealers. John Linder maintains a thriving association with Hercules, a tire producer that posts $300 million annually in worldwide sales. Most of Linder Tire’s employees run their own vehicles on Hercules tires. As Hercules is a cooperative, owned and operated by independent tire dealers, it establishes its own stringent quality control standards.

In the 1980’s, Henry served on the Hercules Board of Directors. John has served on the same board since 1990. Both Linders advanced Hercules’ no frills approach (eliminating “middle” sales people, for instance) to lower marketing and distribution costs, and maintain high quality and competitive pricing.

Linder’s wholesale division today relies on Kevin Klein and Edd Pirkl, the salespeople who distribute tires to car and tire dealers and service stations around the eastern part of Iowa.

In 1968, John married Marsha Wright, following their graduations from Drake University. The couple joined the Peace Corps, and worked three years in Fiji, in the South Pacific. John then went to California for Marine Corps basic training. He joined Linder Tire in 1973, after earning a Masters of Business Administration at the University of Iowa. As a boy, he began working at the shop as a janitor.

Linder Tire moved in 1973 from its original store to 632 South Riverside Drive. The next year, Henry retired. John, in 1975, doubled the inventory and warehouse space. That year, too, Linder Tire became an authorized Michelin dealer. Now they sell tires made by Hercules, Michelin, Uniroyal, BF Goodrich, Titan, and Firestone.

John J., John and Marsha’s second child, was born in 1975. He and his two sisters, Rachel and Hannah, all graduated from West High.

In 1982, John Linder remodeled the shop and showroom facilities. Just one year later, at a National tire convention in Kansas City, a Linder Tire service truck was designated the oldest General Supply-designed tire service truck in the country. All the truck’s equipment was 1952 original, including the Model A motor compressor. In return for the truck, the General Supply Company gave Linder Tire a new tire service body, with air compressor and accessories. The 1952 truck had been kept in excellent working condition after decades of active service. General Supply completely restored the truck, even hiring the original painter to redo the commercial lettering.

By 1985, five employees each had worked at the shop for 35 years. At that time, the staff of 19 full-time people had over 250 years of accumulated experience.

John expanded his business by opening a North Liberty store in 2001, managed by Dave Kindle. This store offers all the services of the Riverside Drive shop, but provides more extensive vehicle service work.

In 1999, John J. graduated from the U of I, as his grandmother, Grace, had done in 1936, and his father had done in 1973. After one year of employment with University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia and a year’s travel in Australia, Asia, and Europe, John returned to Iowa City to join Linder Tire in 2001.

“ It’s been fun,” John says, “to over the years be part of the employees’ lives and their families’ lives. When I started, we went from bias belted tires to radials, and that was a great change. But regardless of the product, we tell it like it is, and simply try to do right by our customers. We recommend and sell whatever best satisfies the customers’ needs, as opposed to what might be the most advantageous for us to sell.”