October '09 - 60th anniversary news - World Fence News Article
If you are in the fence business, you’ve probably heard the name Seegars. The company bearing that name stretches back to 1949, and 2009 marks its 60th year of operation in the Mid-Atlantic region.
To celebrate the milestone of six decades in the fence business, the Seegars family, the installation office’s owner/managers and other invited guests retreated to The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C. September 17-20.
The outing concluded with a banquet, during which Wes Seegars, son of company founder Neal Seegars, recapped the evolution of his family’s business.
Early in life, Wes worked in the Seegars farm supply store, and spent most of his teenage years as a fence installer . He made special note of the diligence of his mother, Mrs. Peggy Seegars, who was in attendance at the celebration, and her faithful support of the company. This was met with a standing ovation.
Wes also thanked his wife, Jacque, for her support, especially in the early years of his career, as he often left home early and got home late. “She always supported me and had the uncanny ability to keep dinner ready and warm no matter what time it was,” he said.
Here is a look at Seegars Fence Co. from beginning to the present, from a company history related at the 60th anniversary celebration:
Seegars Fence Company originated in Goldsboro, N.C. as Farmer’s Supply Company in 1949, at which time fence sales and installation were only a small portion of the family business. By 1968, the company had evolved into a hardware store, and founder Neal Seegars sold the downtown store location to concentrate on selling fences.
He moved the business to South George Street in Goldsboro. In January 1974, Wes Seegars came to work for his father at the fence company after completing his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Soon after Wes joined his father in business in 1974, they began working on an ambitious expansion plan. At the time, the only office was in Goldsboro, and bidding was limited to locations within a 50 mile radius. They developed a business growth plan to open six additional offices in eastern North Carolina over a 10-year period.
Before opening the first office in Rocky Mount, N.C., the company bid heavily in the new area so that when the office opened, there were several hundred thousand dollars worth of business on the books. The manager of that office was made an owner, and was encouraged in his pursuit of more business.
Additional branch locations followed in Wilmington, Greenville, Fayetteville, Jacksonville and Raleigh.
The Seegars knew that for their plan to work they would have to keep their cash requirements low, and to accomplish this they wanted to keep the inventories at each of the installation offices to a minimum. So they devised a “hub and spoke” system, whereby inventory would be stored at the Goldsboro office, which became the distribution and employee training center. The new offices would carry a small amount of inventory, but would have the ability to draw on the central office’s supplies with less than 24 hours notice.
After the plan was implemented, the next five years were spent making those offices strong and adding more products to appeal to more residential and commercial customers.
Later, the Raleigh office was split into Raleigh-Residential and Raleigh-Commercial, Cary and Durham.
In the ensuing years, Wes has welcomed his children into the family business.
Ben Seegars is vice-president and COO of the Goldsboro distribution office, and has met his father’s challenges head on when it comes to adding more offices and learning to manage the business.
Shortly after Ben joined the business, the Seegars added locations in Elizabeth City and Greensboro, N.C.
With 16 installation offices to serve, the George Street location quickly became crowded with galvanized and color coated chain link and guardrail. If Goldsboro could manage the inventory of more fence products, such as wood, PVC, ornamental aluminum and a larger gate shop, the owners reasoned, the installation offices could spend less time gathering prices from separate vendors and coordinating separate deliveries and spend more time with customers.
And so the search for a larger facility to manage the growth began.
In 2006, the Seegars made plans to move their distribution operations to a vacant old textile warehouse at 401 Patetown Road. The property needed renovation, and the gate shop had to be built inside the warehouse. However, they knew that moving to this new facility would aid in managing the business, as well as better serve the needs of the installation offices.
Full operations were moved to the new location in March 2007, where they now effectively serve the needs of the installation offices.
The distribution center has extended its line of products to include private label vinyl and privacy slats, and maintains a custom powder coating line and a wood cutting shop.
Once operations were underway, the Seegars lost no time opening more new offices in Spartanburg and Florence, S.C., in Clayton and Newport, N.C., and in Richmond, Va.
One of Wes’ goals was for his father to see the finished building on Patetown Road, but Mr. Seegars passed away in September 2006 at the age of 86 and was unable to tour the completed offices.
During the transition to their new facility, another young Seegars joined the family business.
John Seegars is operations manager at the distribution office, and manages the loading and delivery of fence materials to the installation offices. Wes’ daughter also joined the family business while she was in college, working part time in the Raleigh and Goldsboro offices. Sallie Seegars Batchelor and her husband, Bobby Batchelor, own and manage Seegars Fence Company, Inc. of Greensboro.
With the entire family on board, it appears the stage is set for another 60 years.
