Door company has new owner, same manager
After more than two decades in the commercial door business, Bob Drainer and his two partners recognized the sound of opportunity knocking when they heard it.
Exactly 25 years to the day after first opening Triple B Doors, Drainer and his partners, Bruce Wilson and Buster Caudle, sold the business to a Davenport, Iowa, holding company. However, little will change for employees or customers of the long-standing business.
On Sept. 1, 2006, Midland Holdings, LLC, purchased the business, but Drainer, Wilson and Caudle remain owners of the building and the land, located on Highway 63 South.
Although no longer an owner in the business, Drainer has agreed to stay on as general manager for the next two years, and he said that Midland Holdings has no plans to significantly change or relocate the business for at least the next 10 years.
“For me, my role is the same. I considered myself an employee of Triple B and answerable to the other two owners, so mentally it’s no different,” Drainer said.
What has become significantly different in the commercial door business, since Triple B opened in 1981, is the increase in attention to security. “We now have electronic locks, magnetic locks, iris scanners and digital hand readers to verify identification,” Drainer said.
Triple B doesn’t sell overhead doors or residential doors; it focuses on walk-through doors intended for heavy use. “You’d see the type of doors we sell at any school, university building, hospital, dorm or motel,” Drainer said.
Recent projects include the Southwest dormitories on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus and the Marriott Courtyard hotel on Lemone Industrial Boulevard. Drainer admits that the high-quality doors he sells demand a much higher price than residential doors, but Triple B doors are also built for long-term use.
“The typical residential door is built for maybe 10,000 cycles in its lifetime. Our doors are very, very different. They are tested to cycle two or three million times,” he said.
The lock sets, hinges, handles and frames are tested for this same level of durability, to withstand the punishment to which the doors often are subjected. While Triple B does not manufacture or install the doors it sells, the company is able to modify doors based on client specifications. “We can add windows or make doors fire-rated,” Drainer said.
The idea to open Triple B Doors was originally conceived by Caudle, who noticed that schedule setbacks on local commercial projects occurred when contractors could not get a timely and adequate supply of commercial-quality doors. Caudle knew Drainer, who had sold gypsum wall boards to him.
The trio, Caudle, Wilson and Drainer, decided to open a commercial door business to address contractors’ needs, and most of the early jobs for Triple B Doors were primarily for Caudle’s building projects. But the business soon took off and began supplying doors throughout mid-Missouri.
Triple B Doors moved to its current 10,000-square-foot location eight years ago and now has 15 full-time employees. The majority of the employees are support staff, responsible for the enormous task of putting together bids for area projects.
“We do estimates and shop drawings with a detailed list of every door opening on a project,” Drainer said. For the dormitory project, there were 2,000 door openings. For each opening, Triple B had to delineate all items necessary, including hinge size, thickness, the number and types of screws, handle style, color, key way, lock sets and price.
Wilson gives all credit for the success of the business to Drainer, the only one of the three owners to actually perform day-to-day management of the business. “When we first opened, it was just Bob and one welder. Now Bob’s known as one of the best door men in the country,” Wilson said. “It was Buster that got him started, but Bob did the job.”
When asked about the company’s sales growth in its 25 years, Drainer laughed, “It’s gone from zero to $3.5 million.” However, Drainer credits his two partners and his employees with the success of Triple B Doors. Although the owners were not looking for a buyer when approached about selling the business, Drainer said, the offer was very gratifying. “I’m very proud of our people,” he said. “I certainly couldn’t have done it without them.”
In addition to Triple B Doors, Midland Holdings also owns Raymark, a steel fabrication company, and Woodcraft, a custom wood molding company.v
Triple B Doors
5925 Highway 63 South
Columbia, Mo?65201
573-817-2201