J.R.’S LAWNMOWER

J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop:

Diverse Product Line Works

Carts, grills, coolers and deer food complement lawn and garden.

BY DAN SHELL

OPP, Ala. L ooking back a decade ago, Joe Richburg, owner of J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop, was just coming off a major showroom expansion and remodeling, and his business was taking off partly as a result of a major television ad buy that put his business in front of millions more potential customers across the bottom third of Alabama. The business was also doing well with its golf cart venture, working with institutions and large companies as well as landowners and recreationists. Since then, Richburg has diversified even more in his product offerings, and he’s boosted his web site and social media presence to keep his company constantly in mind when local power equipment consumers are looking to buy. Back in January PET visited J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop in deep south rural Alabama just 20 miles from the Florida line on a beautiful but cold day and saw one of the busiest dealerships we’ve ever seen for the dead of winter: Employees were busy swapping out showroom inventory from the ATVs and karts that were on display through the fall and holiday shopping season and moving in more spring seasonal product. Meanwhile, the service department’s mower shop was churning out work and going through a large pile of orders generated by J.R.’s popular winter tuneup service special that starts up January 1 and offers free pickup and delivery and a free blade with each tuneup. And through it all, a steady stream of customers made their way into the showroom to browse and to the counter for parts buys, service order pickups, a large cube Stihl saw sale and a nice older gentleman about to pull the trigger on a new Grasshopper mower.

Meanwhile, two technicians were just back from attending a golf cart service school, and in the office Vicki Poole was putting together a Gravely promo piece for the web site and Facebook page. All in all, it was just a regular ol’ Wednesday in January at J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop down in Opp.

“I never anticipated having this kind of business,” says Richburg, 56, a lifelong Opp resident who started the business with his father as a service-only shop.

Indeed, by taking advantage of opportunities and keeping an eye toward diversification, Richburg has developed a powerhouse dealership that

In south Alabama, J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop was as busy as any dealership PET has ever visited—only this was in January.

Joe Richburg, wife Kelli and great employees have built a solid dealership partly through smart diversification, like recent The Big Green Egg addition.

draws sales from all over, and Richburg reports he’s about to meet his longest-distance customer yet: a Canadian coming through who’s buying a golf cart.

The move into carts years ago has been a big boost to the business. Adding to J.R.’s diverse product offerings, in recent years the business has picked up Yeti products, and more recently The Big Green Egg grills and accessories. And just this past fall, J.R.’s became the exclusive retail outlet for “Buck Chum” deer food that’s produced by a feed mill in town and is highly popular with hunters and rural homeowners who like to feed wildlife.

“The folks who make it called and asked if we wanted to sell it. My wife was already buying it because she loves to feed animals,” Richburg says. “It’s ended up being a good move for us because we sell a lot of it. We sell it by the pallet during deer season.”

Richburg says not a day goes by that he’s not thinking about adding a product that will boost sales. And if it’s a product that’s not a traditional lawn and garden machine— especially something that will sell in the winter months or during a dry summer—that’s fine too.

Diversifying into new products requires a balancing act, Richburg says. The more established a brand is, the more stocking and floor space requirements. “They want floor space, heck, everyone wants more floor space,” he adds, noting that it can be a challenge to keep Before and after: One specialty of J.R.’s cart operation is converting carts from single- to double-seat configuration. Above is a cart soon after it arrives in the shop for conversion and the finished product below.

everyone happy with his limited showroom size.

As a small, single-owner business operator, Richburg says he’s well aware he’s competing with multi-million dollar retailers and thousands of online parts and equipment options. As a result, he says, he’s always looking for ways to offer something different.

Richburg says they have a saying around the dealership: “If a mower won’t sell a The Big Green Egg will, and if nothing else will sell, a golf cart will,” he adds. “The key is we have something else to offer.” The dealer compares his approach as similar to investment houses that don’t put all their eggs in one basket. “They offer several slices of pie, and that’s what we have here at J.R.’s,” he says. “I advise anyone going into the business to find a way to diversify if they want to grow.”

Background

Growing is just what J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop has done in 30- plus years, after Joe and his father started out as a service-only shop in an outbuilding with a roll-up door outside Richburg’s boyhood home—just two properties down from the current golf cart sales lot. Richburg started out working on mowers part-time. (The gentleman who bought the chain saw during PET’s visit said he remembered Richburg when he was in high school, always going around town looking for old mowers to fix up

and resell.) In 1998, he came to work full-time for the dealership. He grew it until the major showroom addition and remodeling in 2009, and had purchased some adjacent buildings in a closed cotton mill to house his mower and cart service and shop operations.

“Fifteen years ago our showroom now was our whole shop,” Richburg says, noting that he’s once again looking at a showroom expansion of some type thanks to his business growth.

While Richburg says he hated to see the economic impact it had on Opp, an adjacent cotton mill closure made several buildings available just across the street behind the dealership in a perfect spot to expand service and support operations. The mill closed in two phases, and more recently Richburg was able to purchase additional buildings for better inventory storage and expanded cart operations. The confi guration includes an “inventory staging” storage area that cuts down on trips to more warehouse type storage for faster-moving items that need replacing in the showroom.

It makes for a sprawling operation, and employees stay in close contact with Southern Linc phones and—what else?—golf carts to save steps moving about. “In the past 10 years we’ve been able to add more space and spread out,” Richburg says. “The buildings we were able to purchase weren’t worth anything to anyone but us, so it was a blessing.” Richburg and employees build close customer relationships.

Just behind the showroom building he loved so much rests “J.R. the Mechanickin’ Dog,” star of dealership TV commercials.

It doesn’t look like much, but behind this rollup garage door was the beginnings of a modern, multifaceted dealership.

Starting years ago when a customer brought a golf cart in for Richburg to “take a look at,” the dealer was intrigued, and soon became a Yamaha golf cart dealer in 2000. Today, the cart operation sells Yamaha and E-Z Go golf carts. Actually, “sells” is only one small part of the cart work. J.R.’s also leases, rents, rebuilds, upgrades and customizes golf carts and is a go-to supplier in south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle for all kinds of cart owners and operators.

Basically, J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop is just the place to go whether you want a tricked out unit with custom sound, lights, brushguards and tons of accessories or just need an extra dozen carts (or two or three) for a big weekend event.

A typical recent deal is the purchase of a group of carts from a course in Utah that were completely rebuilt and reconditioned, then re-sold to a course near Dothan. One specialty is upgrading carts from single- to double-seat confi guration (see before and after photos).

Golf cart rentals are also a big part of the cart operation, with J.R.’s renting to non-golf businesses such as local manufacturing sites, a power company and others. As for courses, the dealership works as far north as Montgomery, west to Mobile, and the nearby Dothan markets with golf courses for tournaments and other special events. J.R.’s is also the cart

Coolers and grills are in one area of showroom.

supplier for Troy University some 60 miles to the north.

Behind the cart sales lot, the additional building space houses cart inventory warehouse, plus expanded cart shop. Operations include service, custom work and conversions, with dedicated area for intake and cleanup that delivers spotless units ready for shop work.

Operations

J.R.’s Lawnmower Shop carries Stihl, Husqvarna, Briggs, Honda Engines and Power Equipment, Kawsaki Engines, Little Wonder, Generac and Grasshopper products, with Gravely and DR added in the past two years. The cart operation sells Yamaha, E-Z Go and Cushman golf carts.

Using mostly OEM parts, the dealership also sells a mountain of Rotary blades each year, plus offers the Ahlborn Forester brand of parts and accessories. The dealership employs 18. Entering the front, the handheld shop is just off the showroom floor to the left, and behind the counter is an extensive parts inventory storage area. The mower service shop is across the street out back, with the additional cart operations farther up the block. Richburg says the dealership was hit with the retirement of three longtime employees at the end of 2019, but has already replaced the positions. He adds that the dealership still has many long-term employees, with average seniority around 10 years.

“We have good folks. I feel at home here because they are truly like family,” he says. “We do a lot for our people, and I learned a long time ago I can’t do it by myself.”

Benefits include a week of vacation and a week of sick leave after a year on the job, plus a Blue CrossBlue Shield health plan and a retirement plan.

The dealer says he truly believes in education and certification and has no problem sending techs to service schools. He advises dealership operators and techs to pursue all the education they can get, considering all the knowledge they need to run a business, from financial and management to the technical equipment side and even computers and networking.

The dealership’s many terminals are all networked and run SunSoft business management software.

For keeping customers informed and involved with all the dealership’s products, Richburg has a major emphasis on social media. The dealership has an attractive and informative web site, but it’s Facebook page is where it’s really active, celebrating sales and longtime customers, community events and of course new products and special promotions. Richburg takes advantage of available co-op marketing programs, but says social media is where the action is. “Facebook is number one. The more you put out the more feedback you get,” he believes.

He says you have to remember people are looking at your products at 8-9-10 p.m. at night or anytime, really. “You’ve got to stay on top, and you have to make it convenient.” Future

Richburg says he was looking for a really good year in 2019 but was tripped up by a bad dry spell that lasted much of the fall. He’s excited about his products and employees and believes weather is the big X factor in possibly having a record year in 2020.

At age 56, Richburg says he still wakes up every morning energized and ready to tackle a new day. “This is what I’ve always known, and I love what I do. Every day is different, and every customer is different.” He adds that he believes his business is a big part of the local community and a community resource. “I don’t forget where I was brought up. This is my home, I went to school up and down this street every day all my life. I wouldn’t want to be nowhere else than right here in Opp.” PET Separate mower shop building has plenty of space, storage, three lifts and cleaning station. J.R.’s cart operation has long regional reach.