Twenty years in business for Judy and Kevin
Chainsaws and ride-on lawn mowers were the toilet paper of D & L Chainsaws during covid.
“When the pubs are shut and the blokes are locked up at home, what are they going to do other than chop firewood and cut their grass,” Judy Penton said describing the rush of customers through the store’s doors was unlike anything she had ever experienced.
July 1, 2020, marked the 20th year Judy and husband, Kevin, have owned the store but they didn’t have any time to acknowledge the anniversary.
“We were just too busy,” Judy said.
The drought saw business drop off towards the end of last year, so much so that they had to lay off one of their mechanics and Kevin went back on the tools.
Then came the bushfires, the rain and covid and unlike the majority of other small businesses that saw business plummet, D & L Chainsaws went in the opposite direction and fast.
“We went from running at 30 or 40 per cent capacity to 150 per cent in less than a month.
“We can usually have a three day turn around on repairs but we had so much to do, we had so much work that people were waiting up to three weeks,” Judy said.
She added that some customers even opted to buy a new ride-on rather than waiting to have their old one repaired.
As for the stock, it was just walking off the shelves.
“We sold eight months of stock in 30 days, it was just incredible,” Judy said.
The pair were working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week during covid which caused havoc with their supply chain.
Stock from America, Germany, Asia and Sweden all stopped arriving. Even supplies from within Australia were slow to be delivered.
With many years under their belts in business, Judy and Kevin said they had a commitment to their customers who have aged alongside them, many of whom were more like friends.
“I see us as an essential service, people need their firewood to stay warm.
“I am just so grateful for our customers support over the years, they have become friends, during covid I had a customer come in with an Anzac slice she had made for us because she knew how busy we had been and just wanted to thank us,” Judy said.
Their commitment and dedication to the service they provide their customers no doubt comes from their long connection with the business once owned by Kevin’s parents, Don and Lola Penton.
Judy first began doing the bookwork for the business back in 1981 so when the opportunity came to take ownership of D & L Chainsaw in 2000, she knew the business and the customers pretty well.
Don had been a chainsaw mechanic for Wright and Kemp Pump before operating for a short time at Maison Dieu and then setting up shop in the current location in 1987.
The introduction of GST in 2000 lured Don and Lola into retirement and what better hands to place the business in then his son and daughter-in-law.
So it is happy 20th anniversary to D & L Chainsaws.