[caption id="attachment_46090" align="alignright" width="394" caption="(from left) Rick Dennis, Rod Stevenson, Al Ruoff and Kent Stevenson"][/caption]
SANTA ROSA -- Stevenson Supply, which specializes in products to manage rainwater runoff and the dirt it moves, made a further step toward expanding sales further into the Bay Area by acquiring Al Ruoff & Son in Vallejo.
Stevenson store sales are strong in North Coast sales as well as elsewhere in the Bay Area. The Vallejo store further opens sales to the Interstate 80 corridor. As that deal was being finalized, Rick Dennis, a former John Deere equipment salesman who competed with Stevenson when it sold tractors, was hired as territory sales manager to expand East Bay and Peninsula sales.
Those new additions are on track to double sales this fiscal year, according to Rod Stevenson, 61, a third-generation owner of the 103-year-old company. The family now is looking to acquire a South Bay store in about a year or so.
"I've known Al for many years as a friendly competitor," said Mr. Stevenson of Mr. Ruoff. "We talked in the last four or five years about when he wanted to semi-retire." With Donna Stevenson as president and son Kent Stevenson as vice president of sales, Mr. Stevenson also plans to scale back his hours in mid-2012.
Mr. Ruoff opened his store in 1964. The Vallejo store, located at 1328 Lemon St., will be renamed Stevenson Supply. It will still carry survey stakes and wood fuel pellets but its selection is expanding with geotextiles, sediment- and erosion-control materials, surveying lasers and supplies, traffic control and safety equipment.
For details, call 707-575-3335 or visit www.stevensonsupply.net.
