by Josh Carpenter

DENVER – Tim Norman, of Cornelius, never had aspirations to be in the tire business growing up. He was just a regular 23-year-old who drove a Coca-Cola truck for a living. That was until the girl he was dating introduced him to her brother-in-law who needed some help selling tires in his shop – Griffin Tires.

Twenty-one years later, Norman decided it was finally time for a change and recently hired some help for his very own tire shop, Norman Tire, in Denver.

“I just wanted to do something on my own. Because I had been in the business for so long, that was about the only choice I had,” Norman said.

Norman started looking for a location last fall. One spot that caught his eye was the old East Lincoln Fire Department in Denver.

“The fire department was trying to sell the building, and they didn’t get any offers on it,” Norman said. “So I stopped by one day and asked if they were interested in anybody renting it out and they said they would love to. (Fire Chief) Tim Tench was very instrumental in it.”

Tires are Norman’s forte – but that’s not all he specializes in at his shop, which opened May 16. Norman Tire is a “one-stop shop” for anything automotive.

“It’s a full-service place,” Norman said. “We have one of the only Master Certified Automotive Service Excellence Techs in the Lake Norman area. Those guys can fix practically anything on a car – AC service, inspections, tune ups, check-engine lights.”

Aside from that, it’s just Norman and two general service workers.

A certified Michelin and Cooper dealer, Norman said his top-selling tires in the first two weeks have gone to passenger cars and sport utility vehicles.

“We’ve got access to about 25 brands of tires,” Norman said. “We have what you call passenger tires, medium-truck tires, which are like dump trucks, and equipment tires, which are like tractor tires or those you would see around a construction site.”