Featured Video
Check out these informative videos from Rural Lifestyle Dealer.
Register today!
Register at the Rural Lifestyle Dealer Web site and get members- only access to the latest and greatest information in the Rural Lifestyle marketplace. Don't miss out; register today!
Innovation Creates Family Lawn Mower Dynasty in Fort Myers
By Laura Ruane
News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.)
FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 5, 2010) — Anthony Sarlo had no thoughts of starting a business dynasty in Fort Myers in 1935 when he built his first lawn mower, using big, old bicycle tires at its rear.
His contraption - cobbled together at home and at his ornamental iron works shop on Lee Street — performed beautifully. "People recognized a good idea and started asking for these mowers," said Tony Sarlo. He's a grandson of Anthony Sarlo, and the third-generation head of Sarlo Power Mowers Inc.
As Southwest Floridians gear-up this spring to keep grass and weeds at bay, Sarlo Power Mowers marks its 75th year in mower manufacturing and sales. By the family's account, they are the oldest U.S. lawn mower maker under the same owners and the longest-running customer of Briggs & Stratton, the big dog in small-motor manufacturing.
There never was a lack of rivals. By the time the first Sarlo-made mower hit the turf, the U.S. power mower industry "already was well-developed, with dozens of manufacturers," said Jim Ricci, a collector of vintage mowers who's based in western Massachusetts.
The key to Sarlo's longevity: "Grandpa started with a simple design, rugged construction and quality components," Tony Sarlo said. "Today the basic concept is still the same."
Cut Above the Rest
Sarlo's company makes and sells rotary, walk-behind high-wheel lawn mowers. It also sells commercial-grade riding mowers and other outdoor power tools from a handful of other manufacturers.
Sarlo-brand mowers — still made in Fort Myers, are sold by independently owned shops throughout the world and at three company stores in downtown Fort Myers, Bonita Springs and Naples.
They're not for everyone — the most basic homeowner model starts at $499, whereas mowers sold at big box stores start at less than $150. And, not every spinoff venture has made the cut: Branching out into hand-held weed trimmers cost the company millions.
Still, the mower company endures, cultivating a customer base that includes homeowners, lawn services and state penitentiaries.
Dr. Allen Ball, 60-year-old internal medicine specialist in Fort Myers, cuts his own lawn twice a week in the summer, and "maybe once a week in the winter. I've only had two Sarlos in 30 years."
He recently learned his mower's engine is failing, so he'll get that replaced. People are inclined to repair rather than trash ailing Sarlo mowers, "because you can't do anything to the frame, unless you drop it off a bridge," Ball said.
"We've always had a Sarlo," said 86-year-old Jody Hendry of Buckingham, who married into Southwest Florida's pioneering Hendry family in 1950. Until husband Lloyd Hendry retired from his law practice a few years ago, "I did all the mowing," Jody Hendry said, adding: that now I'm trying to introduce him to it." The Sarlo mower, Hendry said, "is marvelous. It's so easy to use."
Women have said that for years, said Arnold L. Sarlo, retired company president and Tony Sarlo's 79-year-old father.
"Right after World War II we had hundreds of ladies buy that machine because they could start it and push it," Arnold Sarlo said. Advertising from the 1950s and '60s featured females - generally Sarlo family members - behind the big-wheeled mowers.
"Knowing them now, it seems odd. But in a family business, we all get involved," Tony Sarlo said.
A Rich History
From the start, company founder Anthony Sarlo never let grass grow under his feet. He specialized in decorative ironwork at his blacksmith shop, but also repaired metal farm equipment, and made cookie cutters "for the ladies," according to son Arnold.
Anthony Sarlo died in 1983. Tools from his early blacksmith trade occupy a corner of the retail mower shop on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Arnold Sarlo recalled that his first job with his dad was "blowing the forge when I was 5, 6 years old. It was a good baby-sitter."
Company President Tony Sarlo, 51, first worked in the parts department. His wife Eloise is vice president. Their sons, 26-year-old Mark and 22-year-old Michael, work in the business. Tony's brother, Joe, runs the store in Bonita Springs. "Lots of cousins and nephews have worked here seasonally," Tony Sarlo said.
Arnold Sarlo's mowing days are over: He and wife Helen live in downtown Fort Myers' riverfront Point Royale condominium community.
Tony Sarlo still cuts his lawn, though, and tries out new company products at home in south Fort Myers. He doesn't mind the whine of the mower, saying it quiets him inside: "It's a little bit of alone time."
Keeping Trim
The corrections industry - with grassy expanses and inmate labor - is the single-biggest customer for Sarlo Power Mowers. Tony Sarlo said family-made mowers can be found in every state prison in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, the Carolinas and New York state.
During this recession, prison budgets are smaller, which means more mowers are being repaired than replaced, Tony Sarlo said. Still, this niche is helping the company rebound from an ill-fated diversion into making hand-held "string" trimmers for sale internationally.
Briggs & Stratton decided to halt engine production for the Sarlo weed whacker; demand didn't ratchet-up quickly enough for the engine-maker. "That was 24 months ago," Tony Sarlo said. "We've had to look for ways to replace those dollars. Literally, there were millions of dollars to replace."
The company is doing more with fewer people these days. Through attrition, Sarlo now has a work force of 16 — down from a high of 30-35 in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Sarlo mowers fall into the niche product category, said Kris Kiser, executive vice president of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute based in Alexandria, Va. The really big demand is for zero-turn riding mowers, Kiser said, adding that niches such as Sarlo's "can have a very loyal following."
The lawn trimmer setback hasn't stopped the company from diversifying. It's developing a trimmer attachment that keeps the cut debris out of a hedge; this likely will be sold to trimmer dealers and after-market parts vendors. Sarlo stores began selling a line of sturdy hand tools for gardening.
Tony Sarlo wouldn't rule out joining forces with another manufacturer, quickly adding that sacrificing the Sarlo trade name "Is not an option."
For Tony Sarlo, keeping the family business alive means "always looking for new dollars to bring in."
