October 1, 2000

7 Min Read
Trachte Building Systems

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Trachte Building Systems

100 years and counting


Trachte Brothers outgrow their space and purchase a factory at 102 N. Dickinson St, Madison, Wis. This would be home to the manufacturing company until 1985.

Trachte Building Systems Inc. of Sun Prairie, Wis., has been a well-kept secret in themetal-building industry for the past century. From tin pans and dippers, livestock watertanks, steel garages, cotton gins, fast-food buildings and self-storage facilities,Trachte offers novice and seasoned developers an investment opportunity that can last alifetime.

Trachte has been building more than metal structures throughout the past 100 years. Thecompany also builds strong relationships and lasting customer loyalty--a value Trachte hasupheld since the very beginning. Business partners, teachers, attorneys, farmers andblue-collar workers have all turned to Trachte to attain assistance in the development fortheir self-storage business, either to generate additional income or begin a new career.

"We're not just selling steel-building packages. We're selling businessopportunities," says Steve Pagelow, president of Trachte since 1980. "We arededicated to our customers' projects and their success. Our job is not finished until ourcustomers are satisfied." Placing the customers first, providing quality products andnever compromising integrity has contributed to Trachte's success since its inception in1901, he says.

An Amazing History


Trachte enters the self-storage industry by pioneering one of the first all-steel mini-warehouses in the country.

The company was founded by George and Arthur Trachte, who named the business theTrachte Brothers Co. The owners' father, a carpenter and farmer, had sent his teenage boysto learn the tinning trade at the local hardware store in Watertown, Wis. The fatherfigured if the boys knew the industry, it would be cheaper to create projects in-house,recalls Bob Trachte, former company president and Arthur's son.

The brothers moved from Watertown to Madison, Wis., in 1899, in search of work. With acapital investment of $200, they opened a furnace and tinsmith shop in 1901. Their firstorder was making pans and dippers for the Madison Candy Co. Then in 1904, younger brother,Arnold, joined the business. "The brothers were a couple of farm boys entering intosomething different, and they had a lot of confidence. They were very aggressive. Theywere ambitious. That's what made the brothers stick together," says Bob.

The family continued to manufacture a variety of products, causing the company to moveinto larger facilities twice before 1915. By 1912, the brothers had designed and patentedthe first roll-forming machine, which was used to manufacture corrugated livestock watertanks. The brothers then created the first catalog illustrating the company's line oftanks and heaters in 1915. Several original Trachte water tanks continue to stand inPortage and La Crosse, Wis.

But it was Arthur who stumbled upon the company's future--steel buildings. He developedthe first steel shelter to house his new Dodge because he didn't want it damaged byweather. He rolled several straight sides and a curved top to create a garage and built itnext to the cottage the family rented each year. "He was a visionary," Bob saysof his father, adding that every day people would pass by asking where they could get ashelter like that for their car. By 1919, the brothers were building and selling portablesteel garages for more than 20 million "cars without homes," as well as forheavy machinery.

It was in 1923 that the Trachte Brothers Co. began marketing their steel buildingsthroughout the Midwest and southern states. In addition, the brothers created anotherroll-forming machine to make larger panels for the buildings. The company also builtboathouses, metal motor boats, oil tanks and the first phone-booth prototype with metalsides. It also built the first all-steel cotton mill building in Arkansas and a steelalfalfa mill in Missouri.

The company continued to expand its product line with an airplane hanger at PenncoField in Madison to house Charles Lindberg's Spirit of St. Louis during his barnstormingtour of the United States. The following year, the Trachtes introduced the"modernistic cornice" mansard/facade for storefront designs. "We leanedmore toward buildings because that was more of a production process. Today, everything isproduction," says Bob, who bought the company with his cousin, Len, in the early1950s.


Trachte Brothers Co. is sold and begins to manufacture steel buildings for the fast-food industry, which becomes the company's mainstay.

The cousins continued with the family philosophy of finding needs and filling them. Bythe 1960s, Trachte Brothers Co. began manufacturing standard parts for its buildings. Thecousins reasoned that if the company could create most of its product in-house,eliminating the middleman, it would generate more revenue and provide better and quickerservice to customers. In the mid-1960s, Bob bought his cousin out of the company and, in1967, sold the business to Paul Lindau. Bob retired in 1978, the same year Pagelow beganworking with the company. Lindau kept the Trachte name, but changed the company to TrachteBuilding Systems Inc.

In 1968, Trachte introduced the Image Era mansard/facade for fast-food restaurants. Thecompany used the design to construct Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy's and Dairy Queenrestaurant buildings. It wasn't until 1974 that the company found its niche in theself-storage industry by pioneering one of the first all-steel mini warehouses in thecountry.

In order to ensure quality and offer the convenience of purchasing a completeself-storage facility from one source, Trac-Rite Door, a Trachte subsidiary thatmanufactures steel roll-up doors, was created in 1981. In 1984, Pagelow bought Lindau'sshare of the company and is currently the majority shareholder. As a result of thecompany's phenomenal growth, Trachte moved to a larger plant in the Sun Prairie, Wis.,Industrial Park in November of 1985.

Trachte Today: Investor Focused

"We are really focused now on our core competency--providing a good investmentopportunity for entrepreneurs," says Pagelow. The company offers self-storagefacilities that are erector friendly, low maintenance and aesthetically pleasing. Thepre-engineered buildings are designed for flexibility and durability. The in-houseengineering department can also tailor the facility to meet the customer's needs.


Trac-Rite Door is incorporated, a wholly-owned subsidiary that manufacturers steel roll-up doors.

Trachte always has its investors' best interest in mind. Each regional manager acts asa consultant and walks the investor through the development process. "What we hope todo is help these people minimize their mistakes and maximize their investment,"Pagelow says.

The company is a full-time manufacturer of self-storage products, which enables it tomake everything under one roof. It offers a complete self-storage product line, includingsingle and multistory self-storage systems, movable micro-storage buildings, corridor andpartition systems, and roll-up doors. The buildings are built to last with zinc-coatedstructural steel and no exposed structural fasteners. The product is carefully packed toprevent damage during shipping, and Trachte provides all the building materials in onepackage from the concrete up, including installation and management manuals.

"We are not the low-price supplier in the industry; however, we are the low-costprovider," says Pagelow. Sales peaked in 1988 when Trachte grossed approximately $10million, but dropped slightly during the Gulf War. In 1991, sales began to increase again."It's been a decade of continued growth and prosperity," Pagelow says, addingthat last year was Trachte's best year in sales at $35 million.

As the company heads into the next decade, it is adjusting its products and services tomeet the changing demands of its customers, the market and technology. "We'redefinitely positioning Trachte to be in business for another 100 years," declaresPagelow.

100 Years and Counting

 
Trachte purchases 6 acres of land in the Sun Prairie, Wis., Business Park and begins construction on its new manufacturing and office space.

"One key thing a company has to do is adapt to change. We welcome change. If youdon't, you're going to disappear," says Pagelow. Trachte buildings are currentlylocated in every state, but a majority of its storage facilities are concentrated in theMidwest and northeast regions. Trachte has also provided services to several countries,including Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama, and Pagelow envisions Trachte expandingits international presence.

"Technology has been instrumental in our growth," Pagelow says. "We arealways looking at how technology can help us and our customers benefit in thefuture." Since the recent implementation of the company's website, Trachte hasreceived inquiries about its product and services from Portugal, the United Kingdom,France, Spain, Sweden and Brazil. Presently, Trachte will continue to be based inWisconsin, but a day may come when another plant may be required to meet growing marketdemands.

"We see the market demands growing for storage facilities, plus more people willbecome entrepreneurial in the future; however, the marketplace is changing and becomingmore challenging with respect to designs and barriers to entry," says Pagelow. Nomatter how much Trachte transforms its product and services to meet the changingmarketplace, its commitment to the customer to provide satisfaction and quality productswill never be compromised," he adds. "People, whether they are customers oremployees, are and always will be the real key to Trachte's success."

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