Customers large and small shop his warehouses

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When a business folds, his business is to buy.
Gary Rogers claims his surplus equipment business-Rogers Enterprises Inc.-is as central to businesses as Wegmans Food Markets Inc. is to the food industry.
“We’re a one-stop shop. We have everything one needs to start a business,” says President and CEO Rogers, who is also widely known for his role as the former president of Jasco Tools Inc. and past president of the Rochester Tooling and Machining Association.
Rogers’ claim about his business may not be an exaggeration. It sells myriad items, from coffee mugs to office furniture and coin-operated washing machines. Rogers, who is in his 50s, recently had five tractor trailers of color printers for sale.
When a company goes out of business, Rochester-based Rogers Enterprises buys its inventory. A couple of years ago, the firm acquired 1,000 dehumidifiers from Chase-Pitkin Home & Garden Centers when it was closing.
Rogers Enterprises is able to buy equipment from large companies that are downsizing or going out of business. Rogers then sells them at a discounted price, for 10 to 20 cents on the dollar, he says. Rogers Enterprises purchases items from companies nationwide and peddles wares around the world. Rochester is its largest market.
“You can’t steal or buy stuff from China cheaper than you can here,” Rogers says. “We compete against thieves and foreign competition and we always win.”
Rogers Enterprises, founded in 2000, also does business as AWR Rigging, a trucking operation, and Dock Hardware, which makes and sells specialized fasteners for assembling wooden docks and other marine products such as flotation devices and decking materials. The dock business sells mostly outside of the Rochester-Finger Lakes region, but Rogers says there is a push to gain more local customers.
The firm employs between 10 to 20 staffers, depending on the season. Employment at Rogers Enterprises increases when docks need to be built and delivered.
Rogers does all the buying for the business and some of the sales. Everything sold is guaranteed.
He operates Rogers Enterprises out of headquarters on Seneca Street, where he also has a warehouse. Six other warehouses filled with merchandise are located throughout the area, ranging in size from 30,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet.
Rogers Enterprises has all types of customers, including large firms like Xerox Corp., small machine shops, entrepreneurs working out of their garage and residential customers.
“Some of the greatest minds today are developing things in their barns and garages,” Rogers says.
He declines to disclose revenues but says the business has grown, on average, 20 percent annually.
Recently Rogers Enterprises purchased equipment of Falk Machinery Co. after its owner, David Falk, passed away. Falk Machinery, founded in 1920, was the oldest machine distributor in Rochester and had represented many machine companies in its past, including Bridgeport Machines Inc. and Hardinge Inc.
Rogers expects to add more workers soon at his firm.
“We’re always growing,” he says.
[email protected] / 585-546-8303

5/25/2007 (C) Rochester Business Journal