September 30 2019

I updated the history from 2008 to 2019.

During the last week of September, we started hearing rumors of the closing of the Bethlehem Store. The rumors were backed up by reliable sources.

On September 30, 2019, the end came quickly. The door that was unlocked for the first time in 1948 was locked permanently for the last time at 5pm on September 30, 2019.

The Website and facebook page are still up using the old address. The Phone is being answered by a Rental company that only does bounce houses and games. That Bounce house company purchased and liquidated most of the inventory except for tables and chairs.  

update 2016

A partnership disagreement at the Bethlehem store started when my sisters who are my partners decided not to forward my share of the rent. The two sisters of this 3-person partnership made this decision so they could pay themselves. It seemed that since the beginning this blog has been a target.  In one of the documents I possess, the sisters demanded that I take my all my social media sites down, including my business website and keep them down.  So at the advice of my lawyer I have not added content to this blog.  This has not stopped the sisters from slandering me and my business’s reputation.  As I start writing again I will back up what I write with documents collected over the last 3 years. 

At the bottom each story I will start posting “in their own words”.  This will be quotes and actual writings from the document stash that I have collected.    

Snowthrower service

This is just one of my updates as stories come too me. This is from a note we give to some of our repair customers.  Just remember it is unedited.  I would appreciate comments. 

Dear Snowthrower Owner

When it snows we are at our best.  For 65 years we have provided service support for the Lawn equipment industry.  I am disappointed that our servicing of your Snowthrower did not live up to yours or our expectation.  Our hands are tied by manufactures and dealerships that don’t provide support after the sale.  In this case parts availability was the issue, this is a problem with servicing discount/home-center snowthrowers.  90% of the requests for Snowthrower service over the last 6 years are because of a corrosive additive that the EPA requires in fuel.  Below is a page from a project to write the History of our business.  An unedited unfinished copy can be found at this link.  www.leisersrental.blogspot.com

Toro introduced the first affordable Snowthrower for homeowner use in the mid 1950’s, and Leiser’s offered the first Toro snowthrowers to the homeowners of the Lehigh Valley. We sold and serviced Toro and Ariens Snowthrowers until 2006.  The Snowthrower business became unprofitable as the discount retailers under-priced us.  The discount retailers were able to do this by selling a stripped down version of what we sold and eliminating product support.  When you purchased a Snowthrower from Leiser’s It was assembled adjusted and delivered free of any charges.  Our customers were instructed on the Snowthrowers use and if our customer had a problem we would brave any snowstorm to take care of it. 

During a blizzard in 1966 Linden Street in Bethlehem was closed by 8’ snow drifts.  We cleared Linden st to a passable side street so our driver could make deliveries.  During the next few days our driver was out on the road past 10 or 11 at night delivering new machines picking up equipment that needed service.  Many times this meant clearing the street with the Snowthrower to get to the customers house.   Everyone else in our business was assembling new machines or repairing customer breakdowns this would include us kids and our friends. 

We understood our customers’ needs and knew the number of snowthrowers and the amount of parts we needed to stock, even if we didn't know when the next storm would hit.  We stocked more dollars in parts then most dealers stocked in equipment.  In 2006 the year we dropped Toro our retail parts inventory was almost $55,000.00.  We stocked 10 auger belts for every Snowthrower model we had sold the previous 20 years.  We were at our best during a snowstorm.  Something I still pride myself in.  One particular Snowstorm in the 70’s my father left the house in cross country skis and I rode my snowmobile on a 10 mile trek to get the store open.  My trip included several miles on a 4 lane highway.  For a large storm I would even spend the night in the store so it would open on time.

During the snowy winter of 1995 there were no snowthrowers available on the east coast.  Even the discount retailers were sold out.  We found Toro Snowthrowers in snow-less Utah dealerships and had them shipped in for our customers.

Times have changed.  We try to offer the same services to the owners of the discount house customers however we are limited.  We can only stock parts that we know we can sell.  Unlike The Toro Company we cannot return obsolete parts for credit.  Many times requests for parts are for models that we have never seen before, or equipment from companies that have shut down.  This year a customer requested service for a Red Chinese built Snowthrower sold online.  Chinese engines are even showing up on name brand machines in such large numbers, they forced the largest US producer of Snowthrower engines to quit engine and parts production.   

Start here

I have been working on this story for years.  Over the last 6 months I have but a little more effort into the project.  What you are reading is a first draft.  You are sure to find spelling, grammar, and other errors.  

I have been collecting and scanning pictures and hope to add them to the text.  I also have 2 chapters I am still working on. 

Please leave comments and corrections.

Rob

rob@rentalbarn.com 

Introduction 1945 -1948

Introduction 1945 -1948

This is an introduction to a story about our family business. In 2010 I decided to take my notes and my Father's letters and start this project. At the time, the Business was on very shaky ground when most rental Businesses were thriving. The current management is my two sisters and a nephew. None of them understand the Business's history or how to operate Business. Without the knowledge contained in this story, they can't save it. They ignored my help and blamed everyone else for the declining business state.

My involvement started when I was 7. We moved to a house behind the Business, and the store with its equipment was my playground. By then, I was producing revenue in the mower shop; by 14, I was on the payroll. As the oldest of four siblings, I grew up knowing the Business would be passed on to me. College was never an option for me, and when I graduated High School, I had a salary and a 50-hour week. At 67, the branch I bought from my Father in 1995 is still strong. I was raised to do this, and there was nothing else I ever wanted to do.

I did not write about how to grow a successful business. There are plenty of good business books in the Library on that topic. It is an interesting story that follows a very successful business my Father never planned on starting. I started in the Business when I was 7. I spent my life in the Business until purchasing a branch store from my Father in 1995.  

 

This is a History of the Leiser Family Business. My Father's Business started in 1948 and entered its 6^th decade in 2008 without its Founder. In my Father's estate planning, my Father provided my mother with a steady income that would allow her to afford a comfortable life. He set up a foundation to take care of his hunting trophies and restored a one-room School House he owned. My Father enrolled his Farm in a farmland preservation program and was very generous to his favorite charities. As his health failed, everything seemed to be in order; however, a Business succession plan was never found.

 

 Why? 

 

My best answer is that my Father never expected the Business to survive after his involvement ended. Some of his letters in the last years of his life would allude to this.  To the best of my ability, I will draw the Map that will take my Father's Business from Dawn until Dusk.  The Map that I drew will show it was not all smooth sailing.  

 

 

There will be potholes and dead ends along the road to any successful business, and my Father's Business is no exception.    

 

This story of the Business would start with my Father collecting bricks for the foundation long before the agreed-to 1948 starting date.  During World War II, my Father was training to be a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps.  When the war ended, my Father pursued his love of flying. Using the GI Bill to attend Spartan School of Aeronautics, my Father would complete a course in Airport management.  He would return home to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, searching for a job.

 

Immediately after The war, few jobs were available in the Bethlehem area.  Local industries were still retooling from War production while trying to absorb the thousands of newly discharged soldiers. My Father would take on some part-time jobs. He would work for my Grandfather. My Grandfather was the head gardener at the estate of a Bethlehem Steel executive. My Father worked nights as a bartender and operated a handyman service during the day.  My Grandfather was a nurseryman by trade; this background would set a direction for the handyman business. 

My Father purchased a used Rototiller and a surplus Jeep; he offered a custom tilling service. In other words, if you wanted a garden dug, you would hire my Father to dig it with his tilling machine.  My Father would also cut lawns and purchase a chainsaw to cut trees.  With the chain saw, he had an opportunity to sell chain saws to farmers and contractors in the area.  My Father would spend the winter traveling the roads of the Lehigh Valley, demonstrating the chainsaw to farmers.  He had an innovative product; unfortunately, as hard as he worked, my Father would sell only a few chainsaws in those early years.  Most farmers could not justify the amount of labor saved compared to the cost of the saw.  The farmers were amazed by the speed but would confess to my Father that they had all winter to cut wood with a hand saw.  

The power chain saw was developed in the early 1900's it was a heavy, expensive machine.  Even the lightest chainsaw needed two strong men to operate. Wartime advancements in aluminum castings would make the chain saw lighter, cheaper, and more portable.  The first brand we sold was Mall; over the years, we have sold and rented most major brands of chain saws.

The postwar chainsaw was an innovative product; however, it was not a product that the Business could be built around.  My Father never intended to open a retail store, so the chain saw was just a product that would enhance his handyman business.  

My Father still envisioned finding a career in aviation; however, with no aviation jobs available, he would pursue his lifelong love of aviation as a hobby.  My Father was active in the Civil Air Patrol and the founding of the local Pilots Club. He would be involved in flying all his life; however, aviation would always remain a hobby as he grew his Business. 

Another business opportunity that would present itself to my Father was home building. One of my Father's friends convinced him to buy a large Army surplus Glider. These kits were cheap and were purchased to reclaim the lumber used in the wooden crates and the wood recovered from the glider. My Father would salvage enough lumber to build a house.  A few years later, he would marry and build a second and third house on land he purchased from his Father.  These three houses still stand in the rear of my Grandfather's property at 3301 Linden St in Bethlehem. 

My Father would touch other business opportunities; however, once the new building was erected, the Handyman Business would be discontinued. 

The wooden propeller had no real significance to my Father's flying. My Father purchased it after it was salvaged from a wrecked airplane. My Father hollowed out the center and mounted a clock in the center. When his first standalone store opened at 2960 Linden Street in 1955, the propeller clock was hung above the front door. In 1970 it was moved to the new 3608 Linden Street store. It was always a conversation piece. When the Business was evicted from the 3608 location, I found the propeller in a back office. The propeller now hangs inside the front door of my store.

 

First decade… 1948 - 1958

My Father acquired a Toro dealership in 1948.  I doubt he knew he had found a product to grow a business.  Power lawnmowers were not new; Toro introduced a consumer-sized powered Lawn Mower in the 1930s. With the post-war building, the boom came an expansion of the suburb yards that were too large for push mowers.  A power lawnmower in 1950 was still an expensive item.  A walk-behind power mower could cost a homeowner 2 to 3 weeks' salary.  With the population moving to the Suburbs, the demand for power lawnmowers increased. The power lawnmower moved from a luxury item to a necessity.

It was never made clear how my Father and Toro got together; however, with virtually no investment, my Father would be given exclusive rights to sell Toro lawn equipment in the two counties that comprised the Lehigh Valley. This was postwar retailing, where business relationships were consummated with a handshake rather than a contract.  My Father would go on to slice up his territory by wholesaling Toro products to other retailers within his territory.

The lawnmower necessitated a change in my Fathers handyman business. The lawnmower was not an item he could sell out of the back of his Jeep.  The lawnmower would need a showroom.  My Father installed some large windows in my Grandfather's garage, and Donald W Leiser Sales and Service was born. As the lawnmower business grew, the handyman business would be phased out. Toro lawnmowers would be the single product that would support my Fathers new business.

 

Location is always critical, and establishing the Business in the center of Northampton county would give my Father's business access to a robust middle class.  The Lehigh Valley was the home of Mack Truck, Bethlehem Steel, and Ingersoll Rand. This would help grow a middle and upper-middle-class community with disposable income. The flat land between downtown Bethlehem and my Grandfather's house was ready for suburban development.

Even with the retail store opening, this would not set my Father on a lifelong career path. My Parents had a season-long campsite at Promised Land State Park. When the State of Pennsylvania started leasing sites, my Father would lease a site and build a cabin.  During construction, Dad would watch the neighbor struggle in his cabin-building project.  In helping the neighbor with his cabin, my Father would notice the neighbor's lack of building skills. This would give him the idea of building cabin shells. He would install the foundation, erect the floor, walls, and roof, and the owner would finish off the inside. While this would be a mostly weekend and off-season business Dad would find customers for his building services.

My Father had only completed a few of these shells when back-to-back hurricanes spawned flooding that would devastate the Pocono Mountains in 1955. The flooding would kill hundreds of people; wash out most bridges.  Dad would fly my mother and me up to the cabin site he was working on to check on it. The floods had picked up the enter lumber pile and pushed it against the foundation without losing a single board.  He would finish that cabin; however, the demand for cabins in the Poconos had died. 

Another product that would be a stepping stone in the growth and diversity of the Business would be the backhoe. Today the backhoe loader is now found on every construction and landscaping project. However, before World War II, the backhoe loader as we know it did not exist. Digging a basement or digging a trench was accomplished by hand or with a "Steam Shovel."  The prewar power shovels needed to be hauled to a construction site in pieces and assembled before use. Moving a power shovel from one job to another could take days.

My Father would start by buying a Shawnee or Pippin backhoe kit. Then mounting the loader kit on the customer's tractor. Now a digger could be driven to a job site and then moved to the next job. This would lead to Dad acquiring a tractor dealership to supply tractors for the backhoe kits.  The tractor dealership we would acquire was International Harvester Industrial Tractors. With International Harvester industrial equipment Dad had a full line of construction equipment, from garden tractors to bulldozers.

The tractors and construction equipment necessitated a move out of my Grandfather's garage.  In 1955 Dad purchased 3 acres at the intersection of Linden St and Macada Rd in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and moved the business ½ mile South of my Grandfather's garage. The building was built mainly for the lawn equipment business. However, the showroom floor was reinforced enough to hold the weight of a bulldozer.
As the Business's first decade ended, it was still evolving; however, it seemed to be on a solid foundation.  From a starting point of a chain saw in the back of a Jeep. The decade ended with a 44 x 48' building, and the Business was successful.  

 

My Father hadn't yet hired a full-time employee, as extra help was needed; my Mother, my Grandfather, or Dad's friends would provide it.  Every Friday, Mom would drive a truck to Philadelphia with a check to purchase replacements for the mowers sold during the week.  Dad would schedule deliveries and service calls for evenings so he could operate the store during the day.  This was honestly a Mom and Pop. 

First decade… 1948 - 1958

First decade… 1948 - 1958

My Father acquired a Toro dealership in 1948.  I doubt he knew that he found a product to grow a business around.  Power lawnmowers were not new, Toro introduced a consumer sized powered Lawn Mower in the mid 1930's.  However in the 1930’s the suburbs hadn't been invented yet and with a limited market they were very expensive.  With the post war building boom came yards that were too large for push mowers.  A power lawnmower in 1950 was still expensive item.  A walk behind power mower could cost a homeowner 2 to 3 weeks’ salary.  As the demand for power lawnmowers increased prices would drop and the suburban sized power lawnmower moved from luxury item to a necessity.

It was never made clear how my Father and Toro got together, however with virtually no investment my Father would be given exclusive rights to sell Toro lawn equipment in the 2 counties that comprised the Lehigh Valley. This was postwar retailing, where business relationships were consummated with a handshake rather than a contract.  My Father would go on to slice up his territory by wholesaling Toro products to other retailers within his territory.

The lawnmower necessitated a change in my Fathers handyman business. The lawnmower was not an item he could sell out of the back of his Jeep.  The lawnmower would need a showroom.  My Father installed some large windows in my Grandfather’s garage, and Donald W Leiser Sales and Service was born. As the lawnmower business grew the handyman business would be phased out. Toro lawnmowers would be the single product that would support my Fathers new business.

Location is always very important and establishing the business in the center of Northampton county would give my Father’s business access to a strong middle class.  The Lehigh Valley was the home of Mack Truck, Bethlehem Steel, and Ingersoll Rand.  The Lehigh Valley’s many college's that included Lehigh, Lafayette, Muhlenberg, Moravian and others would get a boost from the GI Bill.  This would help grow a, middle and upper middle class community with disposable income.  The town of Bethlehem was built on the side of a mountain. Between downtown Bethlehem and my Grandfather’s house would be miles of flat land ready for suburban development.

Even with the opening of the retail store this would not set my Father on a lifelong career path.  He would find other business opportunities to explore. Dad’s lifelong love of the outdoors would start another business. My Parents had a season long campsite at Promised Land State Park in the Pocono Mountains. When the State of Pennsylvania started leasing building sites my Father would lease a site and build a cabin.  During construction Dad would watch the neighbor struggle in his cabin building project.  In helping the neighbor with his cabin my Father would notice the neighbor’s lack of building skills. This would give him the idea of building cabin shells. He would install the foundation, erect the floor, walls, and roof and the owner would finish off the inside. While this would be a mostly weekend and off season business Dad would find customers for his building services.

My Father had only completed a few of these shells, when back to back hurricanes spawned flooding would devastate the Pocono Mountains in 1955. The flooding would kill hundreds of people; wash out most of the bridges.  Dad would fly my mother and me up to the cabin site he was working on to check on it. The floods had pick up the enter lumber pile and push it against the foundation without the loss of a single board.  He would finish that cabin; however the demand for cabins in the Pocono’s had died. 

Another product that would be a stepping stone in the growth and diversity of the business would be the backhoe. Today the backhoe loader is now found on every construction and landscaping project, however before World War II the backhoe loader as we know it did not exist. Digging a basement or digging a trench was accomplished by hand or with a “Steam Shovel”.  The prewar power shovels needed to be hauled to a construction site in pieces and assembled before use. Moving a power shovel from one job to another could take days.

My Father would start by buying a Shawnee or Pippin backhoe kit assembling the kit, and installing it on the customers tractor. Now a digger could be driven to a job site used and then driven to the next job. This would lead to Dad acquiring a tractor dealership, to supply tractors to install backhoe kits on.  The tractor dealership wer would acquire was International Harvester Industrial Tractors. With International Harvester industrial equipment Dad had a full line of construction equipment from garden tractors to bulldozers.

The tractors and construction equipment necessitated a move out of my Grandfather’s garage.  In 1955 Dad would purchase 3 acres at the intersection of Linden St and Macada Rd in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and move the business ½ mile South of my Grandfather’s garage. The building was built mostly for lawn equipment business, however the showroom floor was reinforced enough to hold the weight of a bulldozer.
As the businesses first decade was coming to an end the business was still evolving, however it seemed to be on a solid foundation.  From a starting point of a chain saw in the back of a Jeep, to the 44 x 48’ building the business was a success.  

My Father hadn't yet hired a full time employee, as extra help needed, it would be provided by my Mother, my Grandfather or Friends.  Every Friday Mom would drive a truck to Philadelphia with a check to purchase replacements for the mowers that had been sold during the week.  Dad would schedule deliveries and service calls for evenings so he could operate the store during the day.  This was truly Mom and Pop.  

Picture Link.

I plan on collecting sorting through and posting pictures.

Current photo links

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/rentalbarn/sets/72157640423879753/

Pictures from my Toro Collection are scattered through the picture page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rentalbarn/sets/