Southland Engine turns 65!
Lynn Pesson, Jr. is not alone in feeling like the power-equipment market is shifting to big box stores and direct to consumer instead of independent dealerships. We hear that from dealers too often.
“That’s why we bank on having great service and sales to keep ongoing relationships with our customers. They know Southland is here to help them before the manufacture is,” said Kylie Paterick, the service advisor and digital marketer for Southland Engine in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Lynn Pesson, Jr.’s stepdaughter. “This focus has allowed Southland to help generations of area families find and maintain the right lawn equipment for their needs.”
65 years
Paterick contacted OPE+ recently to share news of the dealership’s approaching 65th anniversary. Lynn Pesson, Sr. started Southland Engine Co. and then Lynn, Jr. took over the business in the early 1980s. He evolved and grew the power-equipment dealership over the years, and now Southland keeps three locations that encircle Lafayette in southern Louisiana.
“We have two zero-turn brands, Gravely and Hustler, and two handheld equipment brands, Shindaiwa and Stihl. We have been a Gravely/Ariens dealer since 1986 and a Hustler Turf dealer since 1994. Our market now is pretty even between residential and commercial customers. We take pride in our shop and that we can handle more than 8,000 repairs every year.
Southland is currently rebuilding its service warehouse. “We are essentially cutting the warehouse in half and converting one side to a new shop that’s heated and air conditioned. That will open up our main building to focus on sales and parts,” said Paterick.
The business handles a lot of parts, and to do that they upgraded to Vidmar cabinets to create better use of the space for up to 500,000 parts in stock, and the necessary room to train new hires how to sell and install them.
“We have five technicians,” said Paterick, four for lawn equipment and one for two-cycle engines, to handle that 8,000-plus repairs a year. Being in south Louisiana, our cutting season starts in late February and stays busy into November.”
The dealership uses its north and south satellite locations to help reach the customers that don’t want to drive to the main location in central Lafayette. “Our satellite stores are also a drop off point for their equipment to get worked on,” said Paterick. “We bring the repairs back to our main location to be worked on.”
Carrying the tradition
“I am the third generation in this family business,” said Paterick. She started working at Southland right out of high school to handle warranty claims. “Filing warranty claims is probably the most pain-in-the-butt task for all dealers. About a year later I moved into a service role to close out repair jobs and contact customers.” She’s moved in and out of service and sales roles and handled the pick-up and delivery service for repairs.
As the new generation coming into Southland Engine, Paterick is excited to build on the work started by her stepdad and his dad. She believes that people come back to these stores because of their service and how the employees take care of them.
“I really like seeing our lawn equipment in people’s yards and on the back of commercial trucks. It’s a great advertisement even if it doesn’t have our company sticker on it,” said Paterick. “People know where they buy and where they choose to get service done. Being the younger generation coming in, I also am trying to navigate the outdoor power to this generation like keeping up with social media and new ways to attract my generation. I think social media’s impact on people’s purchasing will play a major aspect in years to come.”
Congratulations to the entire Southland Engine family for 65 years of success in southern Louisiana.
