Allied Equipment's Fred Stucky
Allied Equipment, a company that specializes in auditorium furnishings, has moved to Princess Road after 60 years on Hamilton Avenue in Trenton.
Fred Stucky, pictured at right, says that he found a buyer’s market for office space. “My accountant is four doors down. He saw the vacancy and said ‘you should look at this.’ We were very pleased with our rates and with what they did for us. We couldn’t be happier.”
Stucky says that he had safety issues with his former offices, which were located near Trenton Central High School.
Allied was founded in 1929 by “two Trenton gentlemen,” says Stucky, whose grandfather joined the business in the 1950s. His father, Fred Stucky Sr., then took over. The younger Stucky laughs when asked for his father’s exact title. “Boss,” he says.
The family-owned company has six employees. It sells office furniture and school furniture in addition to auditorium furniture, but Stucky says the auditorium specialty is significant. This year it will account for about 60 percent of sales. Recent auditorium jobs have included the Berlind Theater, the New Jersey State Museum, the state planetarium, the War Memorial, the Trenton Thunder ballpark, and “countless colleges and high schools.”
Stucky, who has been with Allied for 25 years, says that he has seen changes in requirements for auditorium seats. “Wider,” he says, “definitely wider.” Audiences are also looking for more comfort, and they are starting to ask for “green” seating. “We have school asking for LEED-certified,” he says.
Stucky graduated from Georgia Southern College in 1985 and worked in the restaurant industry before joining his father in the family business. He lives in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two children.
Allied, founded in the year of the great stock market crash, is doing pretty well in the current recession, says Stucky. “The economy is not great, but not terrible,” he says.
Allied Equipment Company, 9E Princess Road, Lawrenceville 08648; 609-512-7236; fax, 609-512-7241. Frederick W. Stucky Jr. www.alliedequipmentnj.com.
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