Who Remembers Getting Washington State Free Beef From Les Schwab?

Did Les Schwab Tires In Washington State Give Away Free Beef?

If you have ever seen the Big Bang Theory TV show, you know that Sheldon’s brother Georgie is the king of tires in Texas. In Washington and Oregon, we had our own version of the Tire King and that was Les Schwab.

Where Was Les Schwab Tires Founded? Washington Or Oregon?

It was founded in 1952 by Leslie “Les” Bishop Schwab and is known for its customer service and tire-related services in Prineville Oregon.

Les passed away in 2007 but Les Schwab Tire Centers continue to operate over 400 stores across the western United States, primarily in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, Utah, and Alaska.

If you grew up in the Pacific Northwest and were a kid of the 1980s, you couldn’t escape the Les Schwab commercials. Les Schwab gained a reputation for great customer service but I remember best for their FREE BEEF promotion.

The free beef promotion ran from 1964 to 2011 and it was a mainstay of the Pacific Northwest lifestyle.

I had mentioned the free beef promotion to a co-worker from the mid-west and she said she’d never heard of it but chuckled when I explained it to her.

It was a big part of growing up in the Northwest. Did your parents ever get the free beef from Les Schwab? 

I couldn’t imagine how people would react these days if the free beef promotion came back but for us kids growing up in the PNW, it was as big of a deal as Rainier Beer.