|
|
|
|
|
|
Jack Doheny Open House Every spring, around the time migratory birds have begun filtering back into Michigan, the hospitality business in the Detroit area takes a small but noticeable up tick. For that, the hotel and motel owners can thank the Jack Doheny Company's sprawling equipment plant in the suburb of Northville. It's called an Open House, but the scope is actually much larger than even Donald Trump's house could contain."We had just under 1,500 (visitors) this year," said Doheny president Dan Weber. "This was the 34th Open House, and it's grown every year. This year, they came from as far away as California and Baton Rouge." The main draw is the hardware, this year representing 33 different companies. Displayed inside a 50,000 square foot main building on April 17 were pipeline and sewer inspection equipment, industrial vacuum loaders, septic and liquid tank haulers, road patching equipment, gas detection equipment, hydraulic tools, sweepers and hydro-excavation technology. Companies represented included Schwarze, Insight Vision,Vactor, Guzzler, Cusco and Madvac. And whatever was shown, Doheny could refurbish it."I guess one way to put it is that we had over $30 million worth of equipment in one place," said Mike Suiter, Doheny's Michigan sales manager and the show organizer for the last four years. Doheny also establishes a presence at the large trade shows around the country ("We have, by far, the biggest booth at the Pumper Show," Weber said), but the Open House is a way of getting customers to come to them. And often, they bring check books."We had sold our first truck by 8:30 that morning," saidSuiter. "There's definitely a lot of competition between our salespeople. "Not surprisingly, given talk of an economic downtown, there was an increased interest in rental, leased and used ("We like tocall it re-manufactured," said Weber) equipment. "As Jack Doheny says, we're in the emergency business,"Suiter pointed out. "If a sewer line backs up into 25 houses, you're going to have to deal with it. The only question is what equipment you're going to use."
|
|
Click Here For The Full Story
|
| |
|
