By Holly Westbrook

The Orange Leader

 

They say “the grass is greener on the other side,” but perhaps these “they” have never met those at Mowers Tractors, Inc. before. Greener isn’t what the Nome hometown owner is going for here, it’s Orange, very Orange – even for grass.

“Orange is a great place and we’re really happy to be here,” David Studdert, said about being slightly new to Orange County as a business owner.

Studdert, who has owned Mowers Tractors, Inc. for a little over two years is looking forward to the future and expanding his business that has been with the community since 1972.

“As crazy as it sounds, I love to mow!” Studdert said. “I also love all types of equipment. I guess I never outgrew my infatuation with mechanical equipment and when this store came available it just seemed like a good opportunity.”

When the previous owners retired he and co-owner Eulice Alvey purchased the place and it has been doing well, but he said he would like to move the local one with exposure such as McArthur Drive.

“Back in the 1970’s this was the main part of town (revering to downtown near the courthouse),” Studdert said. “But now we don’t get the drive-by exposure as I’d like. We’re going to expand into the Beaumont market soon and we are considering a new Orange location too.”

Retired after 37 years from ExxonMobil, he is one to stick with the community far to come. His background includes being Nome’s Mayor for 18 years, Volunteer Fire Chief for 25 years and a City Council member for 25, including his time as mayor.

Studdert is not new to the business world. As the owner of another business in Nome, he knows the inner workings of them.

“I also have Lift Safe of Texas LLC,” Studdert said. “This is a training company that provides employee training for several different types of equipment such as forklifts, aerial lifts, skid steer loaders, backhoes, dozers etc.”

Examples of the brands Mowers Tractors, Inc. sell are Spartan, eXmark, Dixie Chopper, Big Dog, Red Max, Echo, and Shindawa.

“Top sellers are in the 4-5-thousand-dollar range,” Studdert said.

“We serve a wide variety of customers with homeowners being the largest number,” Studdert said. “It’s not unusual for our customers to have several acres to maintain and the mowers we sell cuts their mowing time considerably.”

The store offers free oil changes for life on the new mowers sold, he added.

Mower service is billed very much like auto service. There is a flat rate schedule that they go by that tells them how long a job should take, and they bill according to the schedule.

“That way it’s fair to everyone,” Studdert said. “We strive to form a partnership with our customers and be the kind of business we would want to buy from ourselves.”

Robert Rayon, store manager, Axle, star of the showroom and Rayon’s granddog and Bridget Bethea, parts and service writer make up the store interior while the service shop has many mechanics on hand to help with servicing customer equipment.

Mowers Tractors, Inc. is located at 411 Border St. just past the Orange County Court House on the left.
To contact Mowers Tractors, Inc. call 409-883-9444 and you can email the store at mowerstractors@sbcglobal.net