By some estimates, we've grown too slowly. "After all," critics and supporters both would say, "You have a niche so why not take advantage of it." Or, by proverb, "Make hay while the sun shines." Our answer to them is, we want to stay healthy and continue to grow. We want to ensure that our heart - our manufacturing system and our product - stays strong, and the only way to do that is to take care of our circulatory system - our distributors and dealers and their customers, the end users.
I like to think of Walker distributors, dealers and customers as our "veins and arteries," the manufacturer's circulatory system. If the manufacturer does things that are destructive to the circulatory system, it will ultimately be destructive to the heart. Conversely, if our distributors, dealers and customers are flourishing, healthy and have vitality, the heart, our manufacturing system, will be strong and healthy.
The first Walker mower prototype was built in 1977. The first production run was three years later. Throughout the '80s and early '90s, business grew at a pace that sometimes was throttled by our resources. But we were determined to keep control and not expand too quickly. We carefully chose our distributors (it took eight years to cover the United States with distribution) and in turn, distributors looked long and hard for the right dealers. Together, we have worked hard to get and keep customers.
Yes, we could have grown faster, but we didn't. Walker Manufacturing is only as healthy as our circulatory system allows it to be. To run too fast, to tax the system, will ultimately do more harm than good. That's no way to run a business, nor is it any way to say "thank you" to all of our customers for years of loyal support.
Site Search
