THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150360
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Johns Brothers Inc., one of the oldest companies in Norfolk, has sold a majority stake to Dwight Schaubach, a veteran owner and manager of waste-hauling companies in Hampton Roads.
Johns Brothers, a heating oil and security alarm company, made the sale to bring in younger management and additional resources, said Vincent J. Thomas, Johns Brothers' chairman and part-owner.
``I'm 73 years old now and about ready to retire,'' said Thomas, who served as mayor of Norfolk from 1976 to 1984.
``We tried a succession plan some years ago that didn't work too well,'' he said. In addition, ``we had heavy expenses.''
The company had been owned by Thomas, his brother William, and Vincent G. Thomas II, Vincent Thomas' son and a vice president in the security division. William Thomas had been president of Johns Brothers.
Terms of the transaction with Schaubach weren't disclosed.
Schaubach, chairman and majority owner of waste-hauler Area Container Service Inc. in Chesapeake, said he expected to keep Johns Brothers' 80 employees.
However, the operations have been split into two companies, he said. Johns Brothers Inc. will continue to handle heating oil delivery and the installation and service of heating and cooling systems.
A new entity, Johns Brothers Security Inc., will handle security-alarm operations and will operate from its existing offices on Robin Hood Road in the Norfolk Commerce Park.
Vincent Thomas II will be a vice president and part-owner of Johns Brothers Security.
Schaubach and Thomas said they began discussing a sale of Johns Brothers in December after an earlier effort to sell the company collapsed. Schaubach was already weighing the possible purchase of a small security-alarm company in Virginia Beach when a lawyer called him and asked if he would be interested in Johns Brothers.
Last year Johns Brothers rang up sales of about $10 million, with about a third coming from its heating-oil operations, Thomas said. Another third came from its installation and service of heating and cooling equipment, and the balance came from its security-alarm business, he said.
Organized in 1892, Johns Brothers sold firewood and coal for several decades before expanding into fuel oil. Thomas' father joined the company in 1910 as an office boy and eventually became a part-owner. Vincent and William bought the company in 1954 after the death of their father.
By 1975, Johns Brothers was installing and servicing burglar and fire alarms.
``We were looking to diversify knowing that the oil business would eventually go away,'' said Thomas, who joined the company in 1946.
In recent years, Johns Brothers' sales of heating oil had been hurt by a string of unusually warm winters, which made it difficult for the company to recoup a heavy investment in equipment, Thomas said.
In an effort to pare costs and improve its efficiency, the company reduced its work force last year from about 100 employees to 80, he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Vincent J. Thomas
by CNB