BusinessOctober 24, 2016
Business notebook: Crader Distributing is Stihl growing
MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Stan Crader can remember when his family business, then owned by his grandfather, Buford Crader, first began distributing Stihl products. He recalled the image of a shipment of chain saws rolling into a Lutesville, Missouri, train station...
MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Stan Crader can remember when his family business, then owned by his grandfather, Buford Crader, first began distributing Stihl products.
He recalled the image of a shipment of chain saws rolling into a Lutesville, Missouri, train station.
"The train ran right past the farm equipment business," Stan Crader said. "There was just 40 chain saws on one pallet."
Once delivered, it took his father, Don Crader, nearly a year to sell them.
"My dad drove throughout the eastern part of Missouri, setting up dealers," Crader said.
This is in contrast to today, as the business Buford Crader started 72 years ago has sold over 500,000 products throughout a six-state region.
Becoming a large-scale Stihl distributor didn't happen overnight for the family business. Buford Crader started Bollinger County Distribution Co. in 1944 with his cousins as an International Harvester retailer dealing in farm machinery and motor trucks.
Seven years later, he bought out his partners and elected to focus on farm equipment over motor trucks as Crader Equipment Co.
Don Crader joined the family business in the 1950s with an eye on expanding the company's product line.
"He responded to an ad in a chain-saw magazine in 1959 and became a dealer for Stihl," Stan Crader said
By 1968, Crader Distributing Co. was formed, with territory covering parts of Missouri and Illinois.
For 18 years, three-quarters of Missouri and Southern Illinois was effectively Crader Distributing's territory. Other dealers in the region were beginning to age out of their businesses, and the Crader family saw the opportunity to expand.
Stan and Don Crader made a trip to Germany to meet with the Stihl family and make a case for fewer distributors and larger territories. Target dealerships, they argued, could add value to the consumer.
"So, kind of in a move of self-preservation, we made this trip to Germany to make this appeal," Stan Crader said.
Stihl agreed, and Crader Distributing started to move into Kansas and Nebraska. Other dealers in the region began to follow suit.
"By the mid-90s we had Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Southern Illinois," Stan Crader said.
As Crader's reach expanded, so did their service offerings.
"By expanding the territory, what we could do was train a couple guys to do service and then train dealers to do service," Stan Crader said. "The expansion allowed people to devote more time to do that service."
This was beneficial, Crader said, because also growing was Stihl's product line.
"There was definitely an exponential factor," Stan Crader said.
The Crader empire now includes Blue Mountain Equipment, which operates out of Dallas. The transition there was a difficult one; Crader said it took years to staff the Dallas warehouse sufficiently. Until that point, the Craders spent decades with a staff of small-town employees.
"We weren't dealing with people who were used to living in a metropolitan area. We were used to being able to hire people who came to work and took pride in their job," Crader said. "That was a real learning curve for us."
Crader Distributing Co. has grown considerably over the past seven decades. Stan Crader suspects his grandfather had three or four employees when his business got off the ground. Now Crader Distributing and Blue Mountain Equipment, owned by Crader, his brother, Val Crader, and sister, Becky Hurst, employ about 120 people.
The next generation of Craders also is entwined in the family business and poised to take over when their parents are ready to move on.
"They're essentially already running the operation" alongside some non-family executives.
"In a sense, we've already passed along the management to the next generation," Stan Crader said.
Stan Crader credits quality customer service with Crader Distributing's success. Service after the sale is a tenet of their company and of Stihl's, but he stressed the knowledge and friendliness of Crader Distributing across the board.
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Also benefiting Crader Distributing was the decision to narrow its focus to only Stihl products.
"It goes against what you learn in business school, that you have to diversify," Crader said.
Instead, he said they decided, "We're going to put all our eggs in one basket and watch that basket really closely."
Crader Distributing will be honored Tuesday at the Triumph Award Luncheon presented by Southeast Missouri State University, Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals and the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
"Crader Distributing Company definitely fulfills all of the five Triumph Award criteria -- legacy of sustained marketing and business success, appetite for innovation and continuous improvement, leadership in their business category, willing to take risks to grow their business and geographically located in this region," Charles Wiles, Triumph Award Committee chairman, said in a news release. "We salute their longtime dedication and commitment to marketing excellence."
It's National Disability Employment Month
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is a celebration of the contributions of workers with disabilities and an opportunity to educate the public about the value of a diverse workforce. This year's theme is "Inclusion Works."
SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence participates in the annual awareness campaign each October in an effort to stress the value of diverse perspectives, including those of people with disabilities. Year-round, the Employment Development Program at SADI works to foster an inclusive workforce, where every person is recognized for his or her abilities.
Two Wal-Mart stores will close in region
Wal-Mart stores in Caruthersville and Piedmont, Missouri, are scheduled to close at the beginning of 2017. Store employees were informed of the decision Friday.
The two locations are traditional Wal-Mart stores and not the large-scale supercenters commonly seen in the area.
They have served their respective communities for decades. The Caruthersville Wal-Mart opened in 1977 and employs 85 people. The Piedmont location opened in 1980 and employs 75 people.
"After careful review of a number of factors, we have made the difficult decision to not renew the lease at our Caruthersville and Piedmont stores," Betsy Harden of Wal-Mart said in a statement. "We care deeply about our associates impacted by this decision, and our priority is to take care of them. Our goal is to find them as many opportunities to continue to serve our customers as possible."
The company is seeking transfer opportunities for those employees wishing to continue with the company. Severance packages will be offered to all other full and part-time employees.
Both stores will close Jan. 20.
State releases jobs data
The Missouri Department of Economic Development released the latest seasonally adjusted data about employment. Missouri's non-farm payroll employment grew by 6,700 jobs in September. The state's unemployment rate for September was 5.2 percent.
The DED reports the state's largest private-industry employment growth last month occurred in health care and social assistance, adding 2,400 jobs. This is followed by 1,700 jobs in educational services and 1,500 jobs in finance and insurance.
Agency urges timely reports on crops
Scott County USDA Farm Service Agency is encouraging producers to file accurate and timely reports for all crops and land uses to prevent the loss of FSA program benefits.
"To comply with FSA program eligibility requirements, all producers are encouraged to visit the Scott County FSA office to file an accurate crop certification report by the applicable deadline," FSA executive director Chris Grojean said in a news release.
The following acreage reporting dates are applicable for Scott County:
Nov. 15: grass certification
Dec. 15: fall barley, fall wheat and all other fall-seeded small grains
Jan. 15: apples, grapes and peaches
May 15: spring oats and potatoes
July 15: conservation reserve program, burley tobacco, corn, cotton. grain sorghum, hybrid corn seed, popcorn, rice, soybeans and all other crops
Business licenses
- Lawbikes, 429 Optimist Drive, is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle repair shop owned by Kit Cameron. The business has been in operation for four months.
- The Ferris Wheel is a food truck owned by Benjamin Bird. The mobile restaurant will specialize in fun foods such as funnel cakes and turkey legs.
- Hair Phoenix LLC, dba Supercuts, at Cape West Shopping Center, 3441A William St., is a hair salon owned by Lisa Clark and Lawrence Hatchett. The anticipated opening date is Nov. 2.
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