Chabill’s Tire Service has come a long way from a two-man show

Anna Giroir
January 15, 2007
Check It Out!
January 17, 2007
Anna Giroir
January 15, 2007
Check It Out!
January 17, 2007

Nearly 40 years ago, Chabill’s Tire Service started as just that — a tire service. Charley Gowland and Billy Parker started the business after a representative from BF Goodrich approached Gowland about selling tires in the Morgan City area. Gowland and Parker were open to the idea and dubbed their business Chabill’s — a combination of their first names.


“It just kind of went from there,” said Beth Barron, director of Business Development for Chabill’s.

Originally, Gowland and Parker ran a two-man operation. “Charley would sell tires, and Billy would put them on,” said Barron. “It’s grown quite a lot.”


From its humble beginnings in Morgan City, Chabill’s now has 13 locations and about 100 employees, according to Barron. It has also added Michelin, Uniroyal, Goodyear, Kelly and Cooper Tires, as well as many services.


“We do front-end work and brake repair. Alignments, AC repairs, shocks and struts, oil changes. Just about any kind of light maintenance work,” explained Barron. “We definitely do regular maintenance.”

Chabill’s has stores in Lafayette (2), Houma (2), Morgan City (2), Thibodaux, Mathews, Bayou Vista, Franklin, New Iberia, Broussard and Crowley.


Barron said the company’s philosophy is to build a “partnership” with its customers. “We’re big enough now to where we have great buying power,” she says. “It enables us to buy things at a good price and be able to pass that savings on to our customers.


“But we’re still small enough so that we’re able to still give good personal service. We know our customers, and we’re interested in them and what’s best for them. We’re able to keep that personal, family-owned business type of environment. It’s important to us. We want to do what’s right for the customer. We want to help them make good decisions about their vehicle and their vehicle’s maintenance. We want it to be like a partnership. It’s not all about just the sale, it’s about what’s best for the customer.”

Chabill’s opened its 13th location on Monday, a Mathews-based store.


According to Barron, Chabill’s always has expansion in mind. “We always have plans for expansion,” she said. “The next thing we’re doing is … and addition to our Thibodaux location. We’re going to add on to that location, as our next project. But we’re always looking for other locations to expand to east and west.”


Although it is not a physical location, the company has also expanded to the Internet, where customers can window shop at Chabill’s. “They can send e-mails to us,” explained Barron, “and we’ll send them prices for services and tires over the Internet. And they’re able to see what products we sell.”

The company also offers a Customer Appreciation Rewards (C.A.R.) program. “That’s kind of a new thing we’ve been doing,” said Barron. “We started it in May. It’s like a points program where you earn points for your purchases. It’s free to join, and any customer can sign up.”


Barron said that through the program customers can earn coupons and discounts based on their purchases. “We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback, and we’ve got over 3,000 members now in the program,” she added.

And Chabill’s plans for the future?

“We’re constantly trying to stay cutting edge, as far as technology and equipment,” said Barron. “For us, we have state-of-the-art equipment and state-of-the-art machines. We spend a lot of money on that in our locations.

“We also want to continue our expansion. In the next 10 years, we want to have 25 or 30 stores. We’re always looking for those opportunities.”

Matt LeBlanc can be reached at matt@tri-parishtimes.com.

Chabill’s Tire Service

Owner: Charley Gowland and Billy Parker

Headquarters: 1429 Sandra St., Morgan City, 70380

Phone: (985) 380-8235

Staff: 100 employees

Services: Any kind of light automotive work, regular maintenance, front-end work, break repair, alignments, AC repair, shocks and struts, oil changes.

Web site: http://www.chabillstire.com/

Staff Photo by MATT LeBLANC • Tri-Parish Times * Chabill’s Tire Services has grown over the last 40 years to include a combination of services and products. The company handles BF Goodrich, Michelin and Uniroyal tires. In addition, front-end work, brake repairs, alignments, AC repairs, shock and strut work and oil changes are offered.