DOING BUSINESS THE PERSONAL WAY
The introduction of fiberglass into the A.R.E. product line-up began to fuel a period of rapid growth. Fiberglass as a material provided a wealth of production benefits and possibilities, as well as posing many challenges. Key among those challenges was developing the ability of the product to resist the tendency of the exterior finish to deteriorate with prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light. A.R.E. became convinced that the ultimate solution lie with providing an automotive-like quality finish, something the industry was a long way from delivering.The same year (1987) the merger of A&R and A.R.E. began to take shape, plans came to fruition to construct new facilities for the growing company. There was no other person to call for the construction job than the one whose vision had helped to get the company off the ground in the first place, the JJY Construction Company and Jonas Yoder. Yoder watched over the project from start to finish, even finding himself stranded on the roof of the half-built facility one Sunday afternoon when he and his son had scaled a ladder to secure some loose building material on a windy day. The same wind that blew the material around blew over the only usable ladder. Yoder used a rope to lower his son the twenty feet to the ground to recover the ladder.
A.R.E.'s first Open House christened the new 36,000 square foot facility, and production began on aluminum, fiberglass, and DCU caps. The molds and fiberglass spraying continued in what is now referred to as Plant Two, the building that was created around the original garage belonging to Aden Miller.In the next few years the building expansion continued, with 20,000 square feet being added to upgrade the painting facilities in 1989, 12,000 in 1990 for assembly of new products and the relocation of the tooling department, and finally, 11,700 in 1991 for a covered truck loading facility.
Buildings were not the only structures changing at A.R.E. In 1988, Salvatore Gatti retired and Ralph Gatti became president of the company. The business that began in a small garage with two workers now required the work of over 100 skilled craftspeople. From one pick-up pulling a flat bed trailer, A.R.E.'s delivery fleet now included 6 tractor-trailers. A.R.E. was poised to capitalize on the consumers' desire to outfit what had now become, in many homes, the second family car.
The burgeoning truck market was very receptive to the high quality, reasonably priced products that were produced by A.R.E. From servicing primarily the northeast market until the mid-eighties, A.R.E. made in-roads into the southeast and the farther midwest. The demand continued, and A.R.E. caps were delivered into Texas and the Southwest.
