Forth decade… 1978 – 1984 (part I)
For the first 30 years the
business would see strong steady growth, for the 4th decade the
business would hit its first significant bumps in the road. “If you build it they will come” is not always
the case. The continued down economy
would kill the construction equipment sales business before it ever got
started. The manager of the Macungie
store was uninspired and he was beyond the oversight of my Father. The 4th decade would expose some
serious cracks in the business’s foundation.
The large investment in the Macungie store was not paying off. After 3 years the store was still running at
a significant loss. After a considerable
investment in construction equipment inventory my Father would overlook the hiring
of a competent outside salesman. After 3
years the original construction equipment sales inventory was just collecting
dust.
Early in the 4th
decade my Brother would enter the business.
He had minimal time working in our business, however spent the year
after High School attending a rental school set up by the American Rental Association. After the program, he spent the following
summer apprenticing in a California rental store. My Brother would return and have my Father’s
complete attention. My Father would study
ideas my Brother learned on his apprenticeship.
After all these California rental pioneers that my Brother apprenticed
under were my Father’s mentors. As long
as my Brother had my Fathers attention he felt he could wrestle control of the
business for himself. This would be the
start of the “Leiser Family Wars”.
In 1980 a former mechanic of
ours would start snooping around. After
he left us he had spent a few years working for Bobcat. After Bobcat he decided to open his own
business. First he would find a way to
acquire our Bobcat customer list and grab some of our service accounts. Eventually with some inside help this former
mechanic would steal the Bobcat franchise away from us. Our Bobcat dealership would be given to a one
man operation who's only business facility was his garage. The loss of the parts and service business
would be a big hit on the Macungie store.
This new Bobcat dealer would eventually fail however until that day he
would profit from his inside contacts.
My Father would never understand how closely the people he trusted were
involved in us losing the Bobcat franchise.
My Father who had never
committed 100% to marketing Bobcat Loaders was now determined to hurt Bobcat
and this new dealer. He would acquire
another brand of skid steer loaders from a company called Hydra-Mac. The quality was horrible; Hydra-Mac loaders
would break down on demos, at one point the factory even flew an engineer in to
see if they could solve the problem of exploding hydraulic hoses. Another annoyance my Father never understood
was as soon as we found an interested loader customer the Bobcat dealer would
find his way to the same prospect. With
the Hydra-Mac reliability issues my Father would acquire a third line of skid
steer loaders. That company would shut
down stranding us without parts. This
would end our ventures into construction equipment sales.
Even with the poor economy
the party rental business would remain strong.
The Palmer store could no longer handle the increases of the party
rental business. Every weekend our busy
party delivery trucks covered the valley. Our tent, chair, and table inventory allowed
us to service major events like Pocono Raceway.
We had grown to a point that we could handle 2 large outdoor weddings a
weekend. The already enlarged Palmer
store needed to be expanded again, however there was no room on the property to
expand.
With over 4000 chairs we
could handle large college commencements on consecutive days. We were handling the chair rentals for all the
collages in the valley with outdoor events.
The collage commencement season would last less than 2 weeks. Collage commencements season would be one of
those events that was, all hands on deck.
Moving 4000 heavy slippery wooden chairs from one event to another
enlisted everyone in the business that could carry a chair or drive a truck. The commencement season would start at home
where a section of the barn on the family farm, was set aside for off season
chair storage. This would be a family
project as the first step was for us to load trucks and trailers with
chairs. From there we would move chairs from one
school to another.
The wooden chairs we used had
their own problems. The different brands
we had would not stack correctly if mixed.
One year 500 brand new chairs from a new manufacture would be rained on.
They swelled to a point that they wouldn't fold or stack and the varnish got
sticky. This was a logistic nightmare considering
they were needed the next day. We delivered
and set up the chairs outside at the next event, fortunately the sticky varnished
dried before they were needed. One other
issue that would plague our aging wooden chairs was the glue had dissolved from
most of our inventory. They were safe but wobbly. As we added lightweight metal framed chairs
to our inventory the wooden chairs would be retired.
We had one last customer
for the wooden chairs and that was Pocono Raceway. Pocono Raceway would lose chairs at every
event. We preferred that they lose and
be charged for our old wooden chairs rather than our new lightweight
chairs. The Pocono Raceway losses would
fund the purchase of replacement chairs.
At one event we would lose more than 300 chairs. The steel bolts that held the wooden chairs
together were found on a burn pile, this would be the evidence that the chairs
would never ever be found. Apparently the
chairs were used by race fans to build a bonfire at one particularly cold race
weekend.
Our attention would focus
on how to handle the growth of the party business. The Bethlehem and Palmer buildings had
expanded as far as they could, and Macungie was too far from our customer base to
relocate the party business to that store.
With no other option the plan was to move the Bethlehem store to a new
location. The vacant land behind the
current Bethlehem Store was available however this was the same developer who
cheated my Father out of land in 1969. My
Father would look elsewhere.
My Father found an
interesting property with great highway visibility and less than a mile from
the current location. The problem with
the property was that a bridge needed to be built across a Trout Stream to
access the property from the main road.
In my Father’s mind we could build that bridge. When he learned the costs of just acquiring
permits for the bridge the idea was dropped.
After looking at several other properties he decided the best plan would
be to purchase the property behind the current Bethlehem store and expand on
the current site. The property contained
a barn and some storage buildings that could quickly be converted to usable
space.
The expansion plan wasn't
written in stone but would involve moving the complete party business from
Palmer to Bethlehem. The project would
consist of remodeling of the old barn that was on the recently purchased
property. The lower level of the barn
would be used for the storage of tables chairs and tents. The second floor of the barn would be
reinforced and serve as a showroom and repair facility for a new motor home
business. The project would include a
complete reconfiguration of the Bethlehem Store. A new party warehouse with a loading dock
would be added to the rear of the main store.
In the currant showroom the sales area would be used to create a party
showroom, and washing and laundry facilities.
The complete project would take a few years to evolve, when the project
was finished the parts room was used as an office and linen storage. The main counter and offices would be pushed
into the storage area. During the
reconfigured of the showroom the remnants of a full service garden center would
be sold or put into storage. We would continue
to sell lawn equipment, however the space dedicated to lawn equipment would be
considerably smaller.
The first part of the
project was to break through the fence and make our way to the barn. My Father would buy an old bulldozer, track
loader and an old dump truck as the construction would be handled by our staff. Most of the next few months of that winter
would be dedicated re-grading 2 acres, and installing a second entrance. I
would do this by hauling in hundreds of tons of stone one 5 ton truck load at a
time.
The project for the spring
of 1982 was to reinforce the upper barn floor with concrete. Without engineering help we would pour 4” of
concrete over an old wooden barn floor.
The hope was that the wooden floor and the lower beams would support the
weight of the wet concrete until it dried.
One of my Father’s friends with some concrete knowledge would help lay
out the reinforcing rods. We would patch
any areas we thought might give way or leak.
My Father decided not to move the party inventory from the area below
the concrete pour. We would cover the
inventory with plastic so if the floor had given way we could jack hammer our still
clean party inventory out of the hard concrete.
The concrete pour was successful and a few weeks later when the first
motor home was driven onto the floor and it would hold the weight.
As progress continued on
the barn project a third floor RV office would be added, and the RV showroom on
the main floor would be completed. With
the exception of the new warehouse most of the project would progress without building
permits or inspections. With the
addition of dish washing and laundry facilities we would remove the roof water
collection system and install city water.
With the move complete the
Palmer Store was no longer needed. A
buyer for the property would be found.
The remaining Palmer inventory was put into storage in Macungie. The Palmer store had opened in 1968 with a
medical rental equipment inventory. The
property was purchased by medical supply company that was expanding into
rentals. We brought the medical rental
equipment to the market too soon to find success. Medical equipment rentals would work in 1982 because
insurance companies saw savings by moving patients out of hospitals quicker. There was nothing we could have done to make
the medical business work in 1968 however we did try.
By the late 70’s the
business had grown to a point that it no longer needed to have my Father’s
hands on the controls every day. My
Father had the confidence that he could spend a few weeks away hunting and
return to find no significant problems.
As his time away from the business increased he would lose the ability
to step in and understand what was going on.
The party business had become completely foreign to my Father. He had complete confidence in the party
manager and let the manager have complete control of the business and most of
the purchasing.
My Father was a competent mechanic
and welder however there was no longer a place for him in the shop. If my Father wasn’t building, hunting or
farming, his time in the business was spent in his office. The time spent in
the office was something he didn't enjoy.
My Father was becoming bored with the business and he would look to
other projects to occupy his time. During
the search for land to relocate the Bethlehem store my Father would travel to
Florida to meet with the owner of the trout stream property. On this visit he would purchase a lot to
build a winter home. This project would
give a chance him to return to his love of building during the winter. During the winter neither the business nor
the farm needed my Father’s hands on attention.
As soon as his first Florida house was complete he would start another
house. The time spent in Florida would
increase to 6 months. For the next 20
years my Father would build and sell houses in Florida. He would complete a house
every 2 years and then start another house.
Another new project that
would interest my Father would be a motor home business. With his love of the outdoors he decided to
once again to explore the recreational vehicle business. We had been Winnebago and Scotty dealers in
the early 1960's however this was mostly to provide units for the rental
business. Acquiring a Motor Home
dealership would allow my Father to purchase a personal unit at cost and would
allow him to explore the business.
The original idea was a
small venture with just a few units in stock.
The business would start small with one brand of motor homes and 3
stocking units. When my Brother took
interest in the business my Father would begin to expand the RV business with
other brands. He would acquire the full
Shasta line of RVs. With a full
Recreational Vehicle line the RV venture would become much more than just a
side line. My Brother would now be the
full time manager of the RV business.
Taking the RV business from
3 motor homes to a fully committed full line business required considerable
capital. Some of the financing would be
supplied by the RV manufactures most of the capital to grow this business would
come from the main business. The
investment in RV’s would begin to drag down the rental business.
Without investment into
replacing our aging rental fleet much of the powered equipment inventory was
moving past its usable life. During the
growth of the RV Business my Father would look more towards adding used or off
brand equipment to the rental fleet. Our
fleet of air compressors included as many brands as we had units. Some air compressors we purchased during the
first years of the rental business were still being used 20 years later. When we needed larger air compressors my Father
would purchase a 1950’s truck mounted air compressor at an auction, we would
mount the air compressor on a WWII bomb carrier so it could be towed. Our largest air compressor was purchased used
from a mining operation; it woke up the neighborhood every time it was started,
when it started.
Our rough terrain high
reach forklift had been a very profitable rental item; however by 1980 it was
past usable condition. The frame had been welded the brakes were iffy the
lifting frame had been bent. It would
still be rented however it broke down regularly. When the local competition added the same
type of machine our regular customers left.
Our full size backhoe was also held together by putty and bailing
wire. The bulldozer that was over 25
years old when we purchased it had some serious problems including a bent
frame. Before one of our competitors
added a new bulldozer to their inventory we had the only rental bulldozer in
the area. Our customers would deal with
the fact that our bulldozer with a bent frame couldn't really level
anything. Our large track loader was
another item that was beyond its usable life when it was purchased. Several multi thousand dollar repair bills
would eliminate any chance of ever seeing a profit from that machine.
Our fleet of delivery
trucks was an interesting mix of classics.
In 1974 the last new pick-up truck would be added to our delivery
fleet. My Father would purchase very
used trucks when we needed to add delivery trucks. Our 1970’s and 80’s delivery fleet would be
built around “Junk and Freaks”. The
truck tractor that we used to haul our heaviest loads was built in 1953, when
it would no longer pass inspection it was replaced with a 1963. We had a new Rollback body installed on a 10
year old truck chassis, as one oil leak would be fixed another leak would
start. Our party equipment box trucks
were from the 1950's to the 1970’s.
One of my jobs was to drive
the trucks my Father deemed too dangerous for the employees. When the large forklift was loaded onto the
tractor trailer it was 6” above the legal limit, and a thousand pounds
overweight. The trailer had no brakes or inspection. I survived 2 downhill brake failures on that
truck one going forward the other going backward. Another truck we used to haul chairs to a
college commencement had no inspection, registration and only a working
emergency brake.
The focus on growing the RV
business opened the door for competition to move into our rental market. One of the properties that interested my
father during the Macungie search was purchased by the owner of a little A to Z
Rental franchise. The name would be
changed to Action Rental and the new competitor would be located between the
Bethlehem and Macungie Stores. This
store would open with a new inventory and immediately pull business away from both
Bethlehem and Macungie. Between Action Rental
and our Macungie store the family of one of our former employees would open a
Taylor Rental franchise. As these new
competitors grew they would siphon off our construction equipment
customers. The early 80's would end our
ability to compete in the construction equipment rental market.
In the 1980’s seemingly
unstoppable growth in tool rental was stopped in its tracks. Instead of focusing on our core, our
marketing would be focused on competing against the established RV
dealers. We would try to find success in
an already crowded RV marketplace. Our
competitors in the Rental Business, who had been always playing catch up would
suddenly pass us.
With my Father off the
showroom floor, and I was being shuffled between three stores the sales of lawn
equipment came to a halt. He and I had a
passion for this part of the business my Sister had no interest in learning lawn
equipment. With my Father working in the
RV business, lawn equipment would just gather dust in a dark corner of the
showroom. In 1982 our Wheel Horse
dealership contract was pulled after 25 years.
Our dealership had been terminated for a year before we even
noticed. Toro was well aware that our
mower sales were on a downward slide.
Toro was not as concerned because my Father continued to place orders
for new mowers that just piled up in the warehouse. Toro would use the decline in sales to set up
new dealers inside of our protected territory.
Another draw on the business would be a small
restaurant that my Father would get involved in. Never before had he gambled so much
money on a business venture he knew nothing about. While the location was on a main road with
good visibility, it was in the middle of nowhere. The business plan showed
this desolate location would pull its revenue out of the Mack Truck assembly plant’s
lunch hour. What the restaurants tenant
and my Father would learn after the restaurant was open is that assembly line
workers were not given the time or opportunity to leave the plant for
lunch.
The restaurant building was too small the kitchen was too big. When the kitchen with a walk in cooler and
huge grill area was installed the dining room only had enough room for a few
booths. When the exhaust fan was turned on it sucked the doors shut. The first redo would double the size of the heating
system, and add outside vents to allow the doors to open when the exhaust fan
was turned on. The tenant would default on the lease after a few months and my
Father would be left with an empty building full of built in restaurant
equipment.
My Father who co-signed the
restaurant equipment loan was responsible for more than ten thousand dollars’
worth of built in unsalable restaurant equipment. My Father would say he always wanted to run a
restaurant and decided to reopen the restaurant. The uninspired Manager of the Macungie store
would be given the task of running the restaurant. During the time we ran the restaurant it never
came close to making a profit. Without
the ability to oversee the operation more money went out the back door then
came in the front door.
By 1984 the Allentown
competition had stripped Macungie of most of its business the store was an expensive,
out of the way, almost forgotten storage facility with a few employees and an
every afternoon pot party. Even with ½
of the showroom leased to fitness center there was no sign that Macungie would
ever turn a profit.
When my Father received an
offer on the Macungie property from the neighboring business he would accept
the offer. The next major project was to
sell what we could, and completely empty the store and restaurant in 5
weeks. Between running a going out of
business sale and moving the inventory from 2 rental stores into storage 35
miles away, this would be 7 day a week dawn to dark operation for me as the
settlement date approached.
During the first years of the 4th
decade growth of the tool and equipment side of the rental business was stopped
in its tracks, as all energies were focused on RV’s. The Party business with its increased
visibility in Bethlehem would continue to see growth. A single larger party facility would reduce
waste caused by transferring inventory between stores. The only real new item added to the rental
inventory during this period was Costume Rentals.
The closing of the Palmer
stores and the sale of the business property would consolidate and add efficiency
to the operation. The Palmer and
Bethlehem stores were only 7 miles apart, most of the Palmer stores customers
would continue to do business with us. The closing of the Macungie rental store would
be another story. While the closing of
Macungie store would stop the bleeding of cash, almost all of our Allentown-Macungie
area customers would move to one of the 2 Allentown competitors
The Real estate
transactions would infuse the Business with a large shot of cash, or would it?
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