Fifth decade… 1988 – 1997
The 5th decade
would start with increasing competition and a shrinking territory on both the
Rental’s, and lawn equipment sales. One
of the few bright spots was the Forks Township store. With an investment of just some plywood and
drywall it was doing well despite the lack of usable facilities.
In
1987 my Father was looking for a summer building project. My Father decided to update the Forks Township
Store by remodeling one of the old sheds to become an Office, Showroom and Shop
with a ground level entrance. My Fathers
plan was to acquire a permit to replace the Roof and while no one was looking
replace the walls and enlarge the footprint.
This
project would not go unnoticed by the zoning officer, and he would immediately
stop the project. My Father would scale
back the project to avoid need to submit detailed plans to the State of
Pennsylvania. My Father also believed he
could accomplish this project without hiring an engineer; we would spend the
next several months drawing, re-drawing, and re-submitting my Fathers plans
until they were finally accepted by the Supervisors.
The
Project would now extend into the spring of 1988. The first attempt to open we would be hit by
the demand of a State L & I permit. My Father thought the scaled back plans would
avoid the State requirement, it didn’t.
At this point my Father would hire an engineer to tweak the plans to
meet L & I requirements. With the
State permit in hand we moved everything into the building however the zoning officer
still wasn't ready to allow us to use the building. During the repeat of his first inspection he
would claim the attic was short 2” of insulation he would refuse to issue a
certificate of occupancy. The cash
register would be moved back to the Farm House for another week. After a third inspection that didn’t even
include the attic inspection we would get approval to open the new office.
When
the Forks store opened 1985 we were graciously welcomed into Forks Township. Much of the warm welcome was due in part that
Forks Township was interested in a part of the property for a municipal Park. My Father assumed he was creating good will
between us and the Supervisors by selling the land to Forks Township for less than
½ its actual value. The truth was once
they had the land they had no longer wanted a rental store in the Township. Since the land deal we have tried several
times to expand the Business each time met by rejection. Today Forks is well known as a bedroom
community opposed to business development.
The Forks Store still operates in 2014 however my Fathers experiment in
nostalgia would prevent the store from ever reaching its potential.
The
mid 1980's would bring the first Computers into the business. We would start by computerizing the back office
and desktop publishing duties. In 1990 my
Father gave the green light to completely computerize the business. When the full business computer system was
turned on my Father would take another step away from the day to day operation
of the rental business.
In
another step backwards my Father would resurrect the truck rental business with
our own fleet of trucks. We had been in and out of the Truck Rental Business
since the early 1960’s. Over the years we
had used both our own fleet of trucks and the National Truck Rental Companies
like U-Haul. In the early years we would
use old trucks, dealer plates and low cost insurance to reduce to costs. This would all change in the later 1960's as
insurance and licensing changes would diminish the profitability of owning our
own fleet of Rental Trucks. We would eliminate
renting our own trucks and continue only to offer rental Trucks from the
national truck rental companies. Renting
the franchised trucks was problematic, dealing with complicated paperwork, and
spotty availability we could never guarantee that we could acquire the proper
truck for our customers needs. We had
made a few other attempts to rent are own fleet with motor homes, and a bucket
truck, however the lack of affordable Insurance would always be a problem.
When
my Father started updating the delivery Truck fleet he would decide to insure a
few of the box Trucks for rental use. He
was less concerned with profits then value of having mobile billboards, as our distinctively
painted and lettered trucks traveled throughout the valley. Another consideration was we needed the
delivery trucks on Fridays and Mondays. Customers looking for a moving van needed a
truck on a Saturday or Sunday. Our delivery
trucks could generate additional income when they would normally sit idle.
The
problem with rental trucks from day one was the ability to compete with the
national truck franchises. The rate we would
charge for a moving van was less than we charged for a Garden Tiller. With a few exceptions each truck we rented
was rented at a loss. The more trucks
that were added to the fleet the more money we would lose. As the rental truck fleet grew a full time
mechanic would devote most of his time to just maintaining the fleet. The benefit of rolling billboards would come
into question when one truck got jammed underneath a Historic Covered Bridge;
another rented Truck was used in an attempted abduction of a 13 year old girl.
The
computer understood the profitability of truck rental; I understood the
profitability of truck rental no one else cared to look. The truck rental business continues today I
doubt it has ever turned a profit and continues to be a draw on business
resources.
In
the early 90's RV Business would fall under my Fathers Microscope. For more than 10 years business resources
were funneled into growing the RV Business.
With all the financial resources being poured into the RV business it
still could barely stand on its own. With
most of the business’s profits being used to grow the RV business the rental
business continued to suffer with old outdated equipment. This did not go unnoticed by an Allentown
competitor who would move deep into our neighborhood.
My
Father began to question the investment in growing the RV business. Eventually my Father and Brother would come
to an agreement to spin off the RV Business's.
My Brother would agree to purchase the RV business along with the
inventory. When the deal was finalized
it would be reduced to a stock swap with no cash involved. Leiser’s Inc. would not recoup its
significant investment in RV’s.
Even
with the constraints put on the Forks Townships by the dilapidated buildings
the business was growing. The completion
of interstate route 78 would complete a direct route from the Lehigh Valley to
New York City. New York and New Jersey
residents would discover that Lehigh Valley house prices and real estate taxes
were ½ the price of comparable housing in New Jersey. New York and New Jersey residents would flood
into Eastern Pennsylvania taking advantage of good roads and low taxes.
Much
of this residential growth would take place in Forks Township; the shed rebuilt
in 88 was now too small to handle the explosive growth. In 1993 my Father would draw up a plan to
erect a modern showroom on the footprint of the original office. Once again my Fathers hand drawn plans would
be rejected by Forks Township. Rather than hiring an engineer my Father would
drop the planned Forks Township expansion.
My Fathers refusal to work with zoning officials would handcuff both
Bethlehem and Forks Township. It wasn’t
1955 anymore something my Father refused to accept. To thwart zoning officials in Bethlehem my
Father would resort to using temporary vinyl covered structures to get around
dealing with Township officials. Under
one large temporary building my father would build a complete shop with
electric, plumbing, heating and concrete floor.
My
Father would make the success or failure of the Forks Township store a
determining factor in naming a permanent successor. By 1994
my Fathers promise to name a successor in 5 years was now 9 years without a
decision. During this period my Sister’s
attacks to undermine my qualifications would become even more vicious, and bizarre.
One
of the attacks from my Sister would be the Satellite business. My sister, who had never visited the Forks
Township Store, would describe my staff as sitting around watching TV all day. When my Sister would bring her objection to
satellite business to my Fathers dinner table he had enough. I was told I could stay in the satellite
business however the showroom display had to be removed. At this point it was time to shut down the
satellite business. My Sister would
never understand the profitability of the Satellite business, or how it helped
grow the Forks Township store. The
inventory would be liquidated and the customer list was given to another
dealer.
I continued to press my
Father to make a decision. My Father’s
response was to offer to sell me the Forks Township store. My Fathers offer to sell the store would turn
out to be just another empty promise. My
Father knew that Sister could not handle the business and then there was the
point my Father did not want to relinquish his complete control.
When I pushed my Father to
ether name a successor or honor his promise to sell me the Forks store he would
set the terms of sale that he thought were impossible to meet. I was given less than 5 weeks to set up a new
Corporation, collect the licenses and permits necessary and insurance. Under my Fathers terms I would then sign an
open contract on January 1 1995 that would give my Father 120 days to adjust my
inventory and the financial terms of the contract.
I would take over the Forks
Township store on Jan 1 1995 with the 3 slowest months of the year ahead of me
with no money in the cash register. I
assume that my Father was surprised when he returned from Florida in May to
find my business still operating and my loan payments up to date. With a change in management my Father would
find the Bethlehem store stumbling through the busy season unprepared. The responsibilities that I gave up when I
left the business were not picked up by my Sister or her staff. My Father would also discover that the person
who was on call 24-7 to take care of any problems was no longer going to answer
the phone. As the summer progressed my
Father was starting to realize the scope of his mistake. Late in the summer of 1995 he would make one
more attempt to get me back by canceling the contract we both signed. In his new contract he would confiscate most
of my party equipment and would raise the price about 15% on an already pricey
business purchase. In the new contract
he would also cancel all the cooperation terms of the original Contract.
During this period my
Father would write in one of his letters that he was being forced to return to
the day to day operation of the business.
In 1995 my Father would return to a desk that was very unfamiliar to him. For past 20 years he had the ability to come
and go as he pleased without worry about the day to day operation of the
business, with myself and my Brother both gone he would need to be consulted
more often. Still much of my Fathers
time in the store would be greeting customers and staring at a computer he
refused to touch.
One
of the examples of the problem of my Father running the business from Florida
was the winter of 1995. The early 1990's
would bring some snowy cold winters, Snow throwers would be in very short
supply. The supply was so thin that Toro
would limit even preseason orders. Most
snow thrower dealers were sold out well before the Snowy Winter of 1995 started
this even included Sears Home Depot and the other big box retailers. While we had snow Utah was dealing with a
snow drought. Some enterprising Toro Dealers in Utah began to contact eastern
dealers hoping to unload unsold inventory.
I would make my Utah purchases to a level to meet my customer’s needs;
other Toro dealers would do the same. My
Father would follow the snowy winter by reading old local Newspapers that were
sent to him. My Father would decide to
order almost 100 Snow throwers from Utah.
By the time the deal was put together and the snow throwers arrived the
snows were melting and less than a quarter of that shipment would be sold. The
remaining snow throwers would gather dust in the warehouse until being
liquidated years later.
One
of the losses with my departure would be the ability to have someone walk the
fences every day. In all the years that
I was working in Forks Township Palmer or Macungie I would spend enough time at
each store to understood the business. I
worked on the Tent crew, I knew the equipment, and I knew who was really working
and who was smoking Weed. While my
Sister wanted complete control of the business she seldom left the counter or
even walked out into back lot. My Sister
had never visited the Macungie or the Forks Township store. After I was gone my Sister had the job of
managing a business she didn’t understand.
My Sisters employees would see her weakness’s and take advantage of her
lack of leadership. Did it take two
three or four people to install a 30 x 60 tent my Sisters didn’t know? They would be blind as to what the delivery
crews were doing.
During
the 5th decade the Party Business would continue to lose market
share. My Sisters would discontinue
marketing at bridal shows and other person to person events. My Sisters would ignore these marketing
opportunities because they refused to work the extra hours. Bridal Shows are not enjoyable to work but
they are very important to the Party Rental Business. At Bridal shows we don’t only market to the
bride; it’s a party rental marketing opportunity to also show family friends
what we can provide. The party services
we offered were no longer in front of interested consumers. Our absence at shows that our competitors
attended equaled lost market share.
Leiser’s was no longer known for putting on the big events; however a
new competitor across town was gaining a reputation
As the 50th
anniversary was approaching the future of the business was an open
question. My Father would write in one
of his letters that he would never turn the business over to my Sisters. My Father would validate the statement in the
letter as he began to distribute company stock to employees outside the Leiser
family.
The
business was on solid financial ground. Selling off the RV Business would not bring
any cash into the business; however there was now cash available to rebuild the
rental business. One of the problems
that would arise would be putting the money where it was needed.
During
the previous years when I would accompany my Father through the Rental Show, I
understood what our needs even though many times my opinions were overlooked. I couldn’t stop My Father from unneeded purchases,
however I understood how to distract him and move him past most of the Keg
Cooler disasters.
The
date of the Rental Show would fall in the middle of my Fathers 6 months in
Florida. My Father would travel directly
to the show without a review of the upcoming year’s needs. During this time back in control my Father
would make the final decisions on all purchases. My Father would mostly ignore the replacement
of our obsolete equipment. Instead of
drawing old customers back with updated inventory, my Father would look for the
unproven and unusual rental item. My
Father was still looking for those hidden gems that he found in the very early
years of the business. The rental
industry was mature we knew what our customers wanted, the brands the
models. While we should have been
focusing on rebuilding the core my Father still wanted to experiment. During this 5th decade the average
age of our powered rental equipment was 15 years old.
On
the Sales side the Wheel Horse Lawn Tractor Contract would be returned to us by
Toro. Toro would also give us a contact
to sell Commercial lawn equipment to Landscaper’s, estates, and Industrial
users. We were not Toro’s first choice; however
Toro was dealing with a large number of Dealer failures in our area was looking
for stability. The Toro distributor
understood we were no longer committed to the lawn equipment business but
understood if nothing else that we could support the existing customers left
stranded by the failed dealers.
As
we were making a new push into lawnmowers Toro was inking a deal to supply Home
Depot with a stripped down version of the lawn mowers we sold. It was Toro’s time to turn their back on the
servicing dealers and sell their soul to a big box retailer.
The
Bethlehem stores retail showroom continued to shrink as the Museum my Father
built for his Hunting Trophies expanded. The final expansion of the trophy room would
take the entire Lawn equipment showroom.
A few of the new mowers and a tractor or two would be jammed into the
front corner of the rental showroom.
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