Meet John Spang of Rack Men Equipment Company in Cartersville

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Spang.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, I moved to Atlanta in 1987 as a freelance graphic designer. New to the area, my uncle in law, Tom Cook, asked me to help dismantle racks and shelving. It was that day that I met Doyle Sanford of Sanford and Associates.

Doyle said, “I like how you work. Whenever you have time, we have work for you.” So I did both freelance graphic design and worked for Doyle in my spare time. I also created Sanford and Associates logo, slogan, business cards, and mailers.

In October 1987, the stock market crashed and by 1988 an art director at J. Water Thompson said we were at the bottom of the 20 year cycle in advertising and there would be no freelance work for some time. My wife and I just had our first child and I needed to work. On June 1st of 1988, I put 50 business cards in my pocket and started going door to door through business parks from Kennesaw to Marietta. That day, I introduced myself to, ACT Media, a company in need of shelving. I measured their product and space. On the last call of the day, my 50th business card, I met Randy Brown with Safeco Safety Products. Randy said, “I do not need shelving, but I need some existing shelving installed. I said, “That’s what I do”, so, Randy said, “Give me a price on installing this shelving and give me a scrap metal credit for hauling off my old shelving.” That evening I wrote up quotes for both ACT Media and Safeco using Safeco’s used shelving for ACT Media. I presented the quotes Thursday morning. Both companies accepted the projects by noon and by Saturday both jobs were completed and Rack Men Equipment Company was born.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Since Rack Men started in 1988 we have weathered several recessions. The recession of 2007-2009 was particularly hard. We had just completed our new building and moved in January 2008. We did not know it at the time but we were also being embezzled by one of our employees. This was a very difficult time financially. The biggest problem was that we did not know where the money was going and we trusted an untrustworthy person. In retrospect, instead of hustling to bring more business in to keep the company going, I should have been studying the bank statements, credit cards, and accounting.

Eventually by 2010 we had found the problem and had the embezzler arrested. As soon as the theft was discovered, I knew Rack Men’s finances would be back on track.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Rack Men Equipment Company – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Rack Men supplies, delivers, and installs new and used warehouse racking and shelving throughout Metro Atlanta and the United States. At Rack Men, we save our customer time, space, and money by understanding their needs and delivering quality products and services. We have a well-trained and fully equipped staff to serve customer’s unique needs. Rack Men makes the effort to fully understand our customer products and design storage systems that meet or exceed their capacities. When you buy from Rack Men, you can rest assured that your shelving and racking systems will last for years to come. One of our current projects is putting in selective and push back racking in the cooler rooms of the new Mercedes Benz stadium.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our future plans are to expand our customer base through online marketing and possibly franchising into new markets.

Contact Info:

• Address: 102 Pyron Court NE, Cartersville, GA 30121
• Website: www.rackmen.com
• Phone: 770-387-0760
• Email: sales@rackmen.com

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