For Trail Tire Vernon owner Robert Vanderhorst, being in the tire and auto repair business runs in the family.
“Tires are in my blood,” Vanderhorst says.”My dad was the manager of a major tire service centre in Vernon, and by the time I was 15 I was working there part-time. At 18 I was running a mobile service truck.”
Vanderhorst moved to nearby Lumby in 1974, where he graduated from Charles Bloom High School.
Ten years later he took a resume to Jack Peters, owner of the Vernon business then known as Peters Tirecraft, where Jack hired him on the spot, as manager.
“I knew this was where I wanted to be because Jack stated his way of doing business during the interview,” Vanderhorst says. “He told me that honesty and integrity were his number one priority – in other words, ‘If they don’t need it, don’t sell it,’ – which fit my moral code.”
He worked there as manager for four years until buying the business in 1988, and he hasn’t looked back.
“I’ve been in tires virtually all of my working career!”
Vanderhorst is an outdoor enthusiast who likes to spend his leisure time hiking, mountain biking or snow boarding with his wife Trudy, and his more recent passion has been getting out on the lake on his paddle board.
“I truly enjoy everything the Okanagan has to offer,” Vanderhorst says. “I mean, it’s a half hour to the ski hill and ten minutes to the beach!”
A family man, Vanderhorst says “I have three lovely children, Matt, Braden and Jessica – who recently had a baby – which makes ten grand children and counting!”
An avid traveller who’s been all over the world, he says three of those trips stand out from the rest.
“When each of my kids turned 21, I went somewhere special with them for a month; I took Braden to Vietnam, Matt to Costa Rica and Jessica to Thailand.”
Asked about his time as owner of Trail Tire – approaching their 55th anniversary next year – and what he values most, Vanderhorst points to all the people he’s been fortunate enough to meet along the way.
“I really enjoy people, and appreciate all of their various differences.”
Vanderhorst also speaks highly of all of his long-time staff at Trail Tire, and hopes that treating them well has been a big part of the reason they’ve stayed so long.
“Half of our staff has been here for more than 20 years,” Vanderhorst says. “I learned early on to treat them as I would like to be treated – if you care about them, they’ll care about you!”
Visit their website to learn more about Vernon’s Trail Tire, to find new tires or to book your appointment, and stay up to date on Facebook and Instagram.
As the team at Vernon’s Trail Tire approaches their 55th anniversary, this feature series highlights the many longstanding local team members. Watch for a new story each week!