In April 1977, Dave Felder & Associates, Inc. was started at the home of Dave & Ruth Felder in Hope, AR. The garage was the warehouse, a bedroom with 1 desk was the office, and a few (very few) thousand dollars worth of chainsaw parts on the floor of a utility van was the starting inventory. Dave traveled Arkansas, east Texas, and North Louisiana in the van calling on chain saw dealers. Ruth stayed at home working at a hamburger joint part-time and shipped the few orders that were called in. The shipping area was the garage during the summer, and the kitchen bar in the winter. Six orders in one day was a busy day.
In 1979 it became necessary to expand. Up until then, only chain saw parts & accessories had been sold. The two-car garage was full of bars, chain, and sprockets. 12’ x 24’ portable building was purchased to store the lawn mower parts. This building was soon filled, so three semi-truck trailers were added for additional warehouse space.
The business kept growing, so in 1980 the first additional territory salesman was added to the sales force, two more desks were added to the “office”, and the first toll-free number in this industry was installed. In 1981, a 20’ x 40’ shop was built for more warehouse space. By the end of 1984 a warehouseman, a full-time bookkeeper, and three territory salesmen had joined DFA, and 60 packages made a full day.
In September of 1985 it became necessary to take the big step. The business was moved to a modern, efficient office\warehouse located in the Hope Industrial Park. The DFA, Inc. crew now consisted of four office personnel, three warehouse personnel, three territory managers and a computer system.
By 1988, the sales force had grown to 4 members. To improve communication and better serve our customers, a fax machine was installed in the office and each member of the sales force carried a portable fax machine for correspondence. This was also a first in this industry.
In 1990 an additional expansion, which doubled the warehouse and office space, was added. A new freight receiving area, shipping area with conveyors and packing tables were also added to improve service. In 1997, overhead mezzanine space was constructed for more storage. Today, DFA, Inc. employs 20 people and covers a 6-state area.
We came into the business at a good time. We have been able to accomplish what we have due to timing, long hours, hard work, and foresight. However, the largest portion of our success is due to our customers. As a small family run business we know the headaches associated with a small business and do our best to have quality products, a well-trained staff, and state of the art computerization, so doing business with us can be a pleasure - not a hassle. Many of you were customers when Dave, Ruth and Paul were the complete staff, and we appreciate your business as much now as we did then.
Our goal is to stay in touch with our customers, to listen to you and respond quickly with quality products that meet your needs. That is how we do business. If you are already a customer, know that we appreciate you. If you are not, we hope you will give us a try.