Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140096
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And for that reason, there's no end in sight for R. Frazier Inc.'s expansion, its president said Monday.
Randy Frazier predicted sales will rise from $18.7 million this year to $29.3 million next year. He spoke on the eve of a trip today to Amsterdam, Netherlands, home of a new company office that will contribute almost half of next year's growth, if company projections are met.
R. Frazier Inc. is a 7-year-old private service company that takes outdated, broken and otherwise unwanted equipment off the hands of electronic manufacturers' service companies, among others. The companies receive a share of the money R. Frazier can get by selling the units or their parts at wholesale or at stores in Salem and Amsterdam.
Frazier's European operation, based in Dumfries, Scotland, added a new tentacle in May by forming a joint venture with a subsidiary of Waste Management International, an affiliate of WMX Technologies in Oak Brook, Ill. R. Frazier said it hopes companies that use Waste Management to haul away and dispose of refuse will agree to hand over their surplus equipment, too.
Frazier said the company plans to open offices next year in Texas and Malaysia, which are home to operations of big-name computer makers R. Frazier wants to work for.
The march of technology has meant a steady supply of business for R. Frazier, which started out in 1988 handling a lot of central office phone-switching equipment made obsolete by fiber-optic technology.
Initially, most items were stripped for valuable metals or sold "as is." But since then, R. Frazier has expanded its services to include testing, refurbishing and repair.
Mainframes later came down the pipeline in great numbers to R. Frazier warehouses as personal computers began to take prominence. Today, R. Frazier handles more personal computer color monitors than any other item - about 3,000 per month in Salem and Dumfries.
The drop in its mainframe business has left R. Frazier's Salem operation with extra space, some of which was recently rented to Lee Engineering of Pawtucket, R.I., for a new factory making industrial equipment.
What's next? Frazier said he now receives first-generation notebook computers and parts of ATMs. Cellular phones hold the promise of future business, as do wireless technology and wider use of satellites, which will make videocassette recorders and corded fax machines and copiers obsolete, he said.
by CNB