The Hytrol Story

Circumstances later, however, made it necessary for Hytrol to rent its own building for the new warehouse. A location was chosen just outside of St. Louis on Scarlet Oak Blvd. The building totaled 1800 sq. ft. and had only one shipping door. As this was a completely new and revolutionary idea, Tom and his staff made careful plans. They wanted to introduce the new warehouse to their distributors with an immediate positive note. Never had a conveyor manufacturer offered to ship conveyors in 24 hours. It was sure to cause a lot of raised eyebrows. A meeting was called to generate ideas for the introductory promotion. The decision was made to call the new warehouse “Leone’s Stockyard.” Since Sam would be the one in charge of the operation, it seemed only fitting to name it after him. A survey of the best selling conveyors and their most popular sizes decided which models and sizes would be on hand in the Stockyard. Those conveyors that would initially be available for 24-hour shipment included the powered models A, R, B, BL, BA, C, F, FJ, TA, TR, PC, gravity skatewheel and roller, and conveyor supports, all in the most popular sizes and widths. Additionally, there would be a number of conveyor accessories on hand such as feeders, switches, belts, and variable speed drives. Everyone was beginning to become excited about the coming announcement of “Leone’s Stockyard!” Initially, only a few Hytrol sales personnel were chosen to move to St. Louis and operate the Stockyard. It was soon realized, however, that the entire sales team would be needed to staff this big financial investment. In September of 1964, the Hytrol sales team moved to St. Louis and immediately began to gear up for the unveiling of Hytrol’s latest endeavor. On November 1, 1964, a special three-page letter, accompanied with a “Leone’s Stockyard Poster,” was sent out to all Hytrol distributors. Hytrol’s Stockyard was now official. The commitment had been made to stock finished conveyor models and ship all models and sizes within 24 hours! The letter stated that Hytrol sales personnel “...had been carefully trained in every detail to handle your orders promptly, contact the best truckers for service in your area, and obtain immediate forwarding data on your shipments.” The letter went on to explain other benefits to the distributor. It said “Leone’s Stockyard” would make a stocking distributor out of “...every Hytrol distributor or dealer in the U.S. ---without your investing one cent!” There would be absolutely no additional charge for Hytrol’s Stockyard services. The letter explained in more detail the stocking and shipping policies from St. Louis and reiterated Hytrol’s commitment to service the distributor. It was an extraordinary and bold move for the still relatively small conveyor company!