Steve Lange

Steve Lange is a New Zealand entrepreneur and the founder and former owner of Tony’s Tyre Service, the largest independently owned tyre retail chain in the country before its sale to Bridgestone New Zealand in 2008.

Lange left school on his 15th birthday and started work as a tyre retreader for Firestone in Hastings. He became foreman at 18 and manager at 21. At 23, with a loan from his accountant at 28% interest, he and a partner bought Tony’s Tyre Service. He bought his partner out in 1987 and built the business from a single shop into a national chain.

At its peak, Tony’s operated 20 stores across New Zealand, employed 170 people, turned over $28 million annually and held a commanding 40–45% market share in the regions it served. The business became widely regarded across New Zealand retail as a benchmark for customer service. Proof that operational excellence and genuine care for customers could build a dominant brand without a marketing budget to match.

One of Lange’s defining moments came in 1991, when his bank called in its debt. Rather than accept the decision, he flew to Auckland, walked into the Westpac chief executive’s office unannounced and persuaded the bank not only to rescind the call but to extend further lending. The business survived and went on to thrive for another 17 years.

Lange sold Tony’s Tyre Service to Bridgestone New Zealand in 2008. He has since applied his business methods to hospitality ventures and works as a professional keynote speaker on customer service, retail strategy and team building.

Lange’s profile is noteworthy because he built one of New Zealand’s best-known retail brands with no formal qualifications, no venture capital and no shortcuts, just tyre shops, customer service and the nerve to walk into a bank CEO’s office when everything was on the line.

Lange features in our look at what New Zealand's biggest founders did after the win.

Sources: Speakers NZ · Captive Audience · Celebrity Speakers