Elevating the Elevator Business

As the skylines of the Carolinas and Virginia become more mature, with both commercial buildings and uptown residences growing skyward, one axiom becomes more evident than ever: whatever goes up must come down, and vice versa. At least the elevators within them, that is.

And because every single commercial building over two stories is required to have an elevator, this translates into a slew of moving parts, which are responsible for getting people and equipment up and down quickly and safely.

Fortunately for Rodney Pitts, owner and chairmen of Southern Elevator Group, the holding company of Southern Elevator Company, the trend is more than ever, onward and upward.

Getting In on the Ground Floor

Founded in Greensboro in 1949 by M.B. Toler, Southern Elevator Company began as an elevator manufacturer.  Seated in the hotbed of the then healthy textile manufacturing industry, Southern Elevator grew and prospered in concert with the mills. However, when manufacturing began to enter its decline and installation became less profitable, it became more and more difficult to justify the expense of regional elevator manufacturing, and Southern Elevator succumbed in a similar decline until, as current owner Rodney Pitts says, “It looked to most people like a hunk of junk, or a pile of old elevator parts.” But Pitts saw a genuine opportunity to turn famine into feast.

Explains Pitts, “Elevators may not be ‘sexy,’ per se, but Southern Elevator has a client list that reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of business and industry of the Carolinas. Coupled with top shelf mechanics and an effective, streamlined administrative core, we knew we could bring the company back to a position of strength.”

The genius was not simply cutting out the costs, but rather building the face-to-face contact with customers by providing service, repair and modernization. “It became our mission to become the best provider of service in the region and have the broadest coverage of towns and communities throughout North and South Carolina, as well as Southern Virginia,” explains Pitts.

Taking It to Another Level

By addressing ‘niche’ demands, Southern Elevator platformed its strategy, and then took it to the next level: acquisition. Southern Elevator has grown from two to six branches since Pitts purchased the Company and acquired Mountain Elevator in Asheville, N.C.; Washington Elevator in Washington, N.C.; Piedmont Elevator in Danville, Va.; Quality Elevator in Wilson, N.C.; and Atlantic Elevator in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"To me it appears that regional companies focus on getting closer to the customer, by educating, empowering and choosing talented and trustful technicians to represent the Company. Conversely, it seems the big players move further and further away from the customer.” This formula has made Southern Elevator a force to be reckoned with. Now the largest regional elevator company in the Carolinas, it boasts clients like Duke Medical, Duke University, CPCC, and Duke Energy. “By being able to service a huge variety of elevator brands and models, we have been able to accommodate major clients like universities, hospitals, and federal, state, and municipal buildings as well as small commercial applications.”