PRINEVILLE, Ore. -- Les Schwab, the founder of central Oregon-based Les Schwab Tire Centers, has died at the age of 89.

Schwab, who was born in Bend in 1917, died in Prineville on Friday.

He began his company in January 1952 when he purchased a tire store in Prineville.

"I had one hired man, and the two of us were the total crew," Schwab once said. "So I learned the tire business from the bottom up."

The company's sales grew from $32,000 to $150,000 in one year.

Over the next several decades, he built Les Schwab Tire Centers into one of Oregon's most well-known businesses. Its signature red and yellow signs now stand above stores in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada and Utah.

"Les was not just a great businessman, he was a great man," said Phil Wick, chairman of Les Schwab Tire Centers. "There will never be another Les."

The company operates more than 410 stores with 7,700 employees throughout the western United States.

Schwab carefully cultivated the laid-back, cowboy image of rural Oregon.

In 1963, he started the "Free Beef in February" promotion to boost sales during the slow winter months. Customers who buy four tires still get $15 in free beef and customers who buy two get half that.

He spent roughly $1 million a year doing it and another $1 million advertising the fact.

Les and Dorothy Schwab had two children. A son, Harlan, was killed in an auto accident in 1971. A daughter, Margaret Denton, died last year of cancer at 53.

Funeral services will be private. Les Schwab's family has requested that cards and condolences be addressed to the Les Schwab Family, c/o Shirley Jacobs, PO Box 667, Prineville, OR 97754.