SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. – The founder and owner of F & S Supply Co., Inc. recently led a visitor through the company’s new home, the former Flowserve Corp. manufacturing plant at 942 Griffin Pond Road. Jim Flynn and the other man stood under the tall ceiling over the service bays, on a floor that had recently been sealed with a gleaming epoxy coating.

“This is a tremendous building,” said Flynn, 63. “This place just sets up F & S Supply for the future. Probably not for me to enjoy, but for somebody else to benefit from.”

F & S Supply Co., Inc., which sells, services and provides parts for different lines of construction, lawn, farm and snow-removal equipment, last month relocated from 860 Enterprise St. in Dickson City.

Less than seven miles separate the former location, a rectangular structure whose sides are made of blue corrugated metal, from the new place – a combined office and factory that sits on 23 acres in a wholly industrial neighborhood. With 33,000 square feet of space, the structure is nearly five times the size of the old building.

“Business is good,” Flynn said. “And I enjoy it.”

F & S Supply Co. holds a franchise from Kubota and sells the Japanese manufacturer’s tractors, excavators and mowers. It also sells equipment from Honda, Scag, Exmark, Gravely, Echo, Ariens, Fisher and BOSS.

“It’s all quality stuff,” Flynn said. “That’s all we handle – quality pieces.”

In the recent inventory, an Echo handheld blower, at $149, was the cheapest product. A Kubota KX057 mini excavator, priced at $75,000, was the most expensive.

Sales of new equipment, according to Flynn, are responsible for the largest hunk of the company’s revenues but have the smallest margins. Most of these purchases are by professionals, such as landscapers and earthmoving contractors, but homeowners have become frequent customers.

“That’s where the upside is right now,” Flynn said. “There are a lot of guys that want quality. They work hard during the week.”

Service is the second-largest segment and the one Flynn intends to grow by using the larger building. Five of the 14 employees are service technicians.

Flynn said a paint booth will be built in the shop and the company will begin offering installation and repair work on truck bodies.

Parts sales are the third-largest contributor of revenues. The owner retains a fondness for this segment.

In 1976, Flynn went to work as a parts salesperson for Elliott & Frantz, a King of Prussia company which sells heavy equipment, parts and service to customers in the construction and mining industries. It remains in business and is a competitor to F & S Supply.

“The year I started, they did $183,000 in parts sales,” Flynn said. “I worked there three years, and they did $1.8 million.”

When Flynn boasted of his sales acumen, some acquaintances asked why he was still making only $185 a week. He then decided to try working for himself and sell parts for off-highway machinery and large hydraulic machines.

F & S Supply was originally intended to be a partnership, but Flynn has always been the sole owner. A colleague at Elliott & Frantz – a man whose last name began with an S – was going to join Flynn in forming the new venture.

“It just never worked out,” Flynn said. “His wife struggled with the idea that they had a mortgage to pay.”

Flynn initially ran F & S Supply, which he incorporated in 1980, out of a pickup truck. He became adept at finding parts and pieces for specialty trucks, including those made by Euclid.

“That was before the internet,” Flynn said. “Before you could just Google a part number and, boom, it comes up.”

As business grew, Flynn rented a garage in Scranton, hired technicians and began offering equipment servicing. In 1987, he had a building constructed in the Dickson City Industrial Park. Three years later, F & S Supply began selling new equipment, after Flynn secured a Ford New Holland franchise.

Lines from other manufacturers were added to the inventory and, by the end of the 90s, new equipment sales had become one of the company’s most important business segments. Kubota and New Holland equipment were sold together for a number of years before Flynn handed back the New Holland franchise so he could focus on the manufacturer whose products are known for their bright orange paint.

The other merchandise, including Ariens snow blowers, Fisher snowplows and Honda push mowers, are not sold through a franchise and can be found in other showrooms around the area. This means that F & S Supply has many competitors, from big-box stores to other equipment dealers to small repair garages having a single service bay.

Flynn feels frustrated when consumers assume they will save money at the big chains.

“We are at exactly the same price,” he said. “And, we fix them. Our service department sets us apart from the box stores. It’s something they can’t compete with.”

In this building, where employees of Flowserve Corp. once made housings for industrial pumps and related components, the employees of F & S Supply Co. now sell and service various pieces of equipment, from excavators and lawn mowers to leaf blowers and snow blowers. F & S Supply moved into 942 Griffin Pond Road in South Abington Twp. in early November.
https://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_Building-1.jpg.optimal.jpgIn this building, where employees of Flowserve Corp. once made housings for industrial pumps and related components, the employees of F & S Supply Co. now sell and service various pieces of equipment, from excavators and lawn mowers to leaf blowers and snow blowers. F & S Supply moved into 942 Griffin Pond Road in South Abington Twp. in early November. Charles Erickson | For Abington Journal

A row of new Kubota tractors are displayed for sale at F & S Supply Co., which recently moved from Dickson City to South Abington Twp.
https://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_Lineup-1.jpg.optimal.jpgA row of new Kubota tractors are displayed for sale at F & S Supply Co., which recently moved from Dickson City to South Abington Twp. Charles Erickson | For Abington Journal

Jim Flynn, owner and founder of F & S Supply Co., stands behind the parts counter inside the business, which he recently relocated from Dickson City to a much larger building in South Abington Twp.
https://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_Parts-1.jpg.optimal.jpgJim Flynn, owner and founder of F & S Supply Co., stands behind the parts counter inside the business, which he recently relocated from Dickson City to a much larger building in South Abington Twp. Charles Erickson | For Abington Journal

By Charles Erickson

For Abington Journal

Reach the Abington Journal newsroom at 570-991-6405 or by email at news@theabingtonjournal.com.