BATAVIA BUSINESSMAN PURCHASES TRI-COUNTY TRACTOR DEALERSHIP
Timothy Call promised few staff changes after he purchased Tri-County Tractor, the Ford-New Holland dealership on East Main Street Road, in a deal finalized Wednesday.
Former owner Carl Colantonio isn't even planning to leave, he said.
Call, a son of Robert V. Call Jr. and late Lorinda Call, is a graduate of Oakfield-Alabama High School and Cornell University.
His family has been involved in the farm equipment business since 1960, when Call's father, his uncle Richard C. Call and two other men, Kenneth Archer and Sherman Terry, purchased the former Day & Perkins implement dealership on East Main Street Road.
Call, a Batavia resident, served as assistant manager of the business, known as Batavia Farm Equipment, for several years after it was moved to Route 98. He was branch manager at Route 98 site for nine years after the dealership was purchased by Monroe Tractor.
Vincent Antinore of Batavia, who worked with Call at Batavia Farm Equipment and Monroe Tractor a total of 12 years left the area when he joined the staff at Lamb and Webster three years ago. He has returned to Batavia to work in the Tri-County parts department.
Tom Covington, a Tri-County employee prior to his move to Florida, is coming back to work as service department manager.
Colantonio said he is pleased that he will be able to stay on as a consultant.
“It is difficult to quit working," he said. “I began peddling eggs, fruits and vegetables on city streets for my parents when I was 5 or 6 years old and I have been working since."
Colantino's father was the founder of Colantonio Coal and the family owned six farms.
“There were five boys and we worked with our parents in every business," he said.
Colantonio formed his own orchestra years ago and taught accordion with “the best, Roxy Caccamise."
He served in the European Theater during World War II; bought out the coal yard when his father retired following the war and served area businesses, schools, factories and office buildings until the late 1950s when he started the Ford Tractor business and operated four truck stops in his “spare time."
There are still many things to do, he said.
“I want to help Tim, to introduce him to a lot of wonderful friends and customers I have been associated with over the years, and I want to travel."
Call wants to get the dealership in order.
“We are offering 20 percent discounts on any parts in stock to introduce ourselves to the community and we are planning an equipment auction Dec. 10 to clear the property of a lot of new and used items, parts and tires that have accumulated here through the years," he said.
J.C. Lucus & Sons Of Cazenovia Still Serving The Farmer
By CHRIS KIMBALL-PETERSON
Special Feature Writer
Cazenovia, NY – “I feel giving the farmer a fair deal is the key to our success." states Ron Lucas, semi-retired owner of J.C. Lucas & Sons. He and his two sons, Bob and Jim, who now operate the equipment dealership in Cazenovia recently celebrated a milestone in today's business world, the of being in business 100 years! It is not often that a business, especially a large farm equipment dealership has been able to remain on the scene for so long.
W.F. Lucas, grandfather to Ron, came to the Cazenovia area in the mid-1800′s. According to Elizabeth Lucas, Ron's 93-year-old mother, records show William F. Lucas was selling farm equipment in 1891. That's when there is documented proof. “In those days," says Doris Lucas, Ron's wife, “parts were kept in a bushel basket. There weren't alot of inventory like today. If William F. didn't have the part he would look to other farmers for it. That's how they operated." In those days, there were equipment dealers every 10 miles because of transportation. “You couldn't get around very fast," states Ron, “that's why there were a lot of dealers. Today it's different. We handle a larger radius up to 40 miles. Dealerships are fewer and far in between."
John Claude not only was an equipment dealer but was a dairy farmer also. The dairy operation remained untill the mid 1980′s. That was common in those days.Equipment dealers needed to have a side-line. Usually farming was the best thing or working for the town. In the early 1900′s there weren't as many different brands of equipment either. The most common was McCormick-Deering machinery. In fact, there are historical pictures of McCormick's many inventions haging throughout the main showroom at J.C. Lucas & Sons. But as time went on, just like today, McCormick-Deering became Internation Harvester.
Ron and his brother, William took over the business in the mid-1940′s from John Claude. J.C Lucas & Sons eventually outgrew their location on Maple Road and in 1980 moved to their present site outside of Cazenovia on Route 20 in a 80 foot by 200 foot building. According to Bob, there's 17,000 square feet of Showroom, Parts and Service area. “If we don't have it between this facility and our other store in Cortland, we can get it within a day or two," says Jim, discussing parts inventory.
J.C. Lucas & Sons have a force of 30 employees between their site in Cazenovia and their store in Cortland which was opened in 1984. The Cortland store is managed by Ed Skeele a former I.H. employee for 11 years. They have on-farm repair, as well as full service right on site.
“We also have expanded into the lawn-garden/grounds maintenance equipment," states Jim, who is the co-store manager and is in charge of bookkeeping and sales. According to Jim, inventory is probably the hardest to control. “You have an obligation to the farmer to make sure you stock parts for his equiipment but then on the other hand, if you don't have a turn about of one and half years for that part, you can't really afford to keep it on hand." That's a big reason why the Lucas boys have a computer system to manage this. If they do not have a particular part, they can immediately find out if it can be found nearby. “Computers are an essential part to this business operation," says Bob, co-store manager and in charge of parts and service. “The computer automatically orders the part when we start getting low supply." Bob further stated that now, accounts receivable can be done in 24 hours with the computer versus taking four to five days manually.
Doris Lucas plays an essential part in the equipment business. She handles some of the office work when there is much to do and little time to do it. “I'm proud of our heritage. Ron's grandfather had a knack for business and it has just come down the line."
J.C. Lucas & Sons was 27th in sales of Cub Cadets in the nation in 1990. Their farm tractor sales in the 4th quarter of 1990 was up 200 percent. “All of this growth can only be attributed to our excellent employee's and customer loyalty," states Bob.
Loyalty means a lot to the Lucas family. “In my dad's time," says Ron, “a handshake is all you needed when a farmer wanted to buy machinery. Nowadays, there's lots of papers to sign and it's not as personal anymore. But I feel we have very loyal customers. Giving them a fair and honest deal is our motto and in return farmer-customer loyalty is what we have." He also said that quality of service has always been in the forefront of J.C. Lucas & Sons. “That's what customers want nowadays."