Rebuilding the family business
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on February 19, 2017 12:47 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
The new Aycock Tractor showroom has several similarities and differences, but the main difference is ground floor offices.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Flooding from Hurricane Matthew surrounded the Aycock Tractor Company building around the time the business had scheduled its grand re-opening.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Rusty Aycock, 19, uses an air gun to clean parts that were salvageable after the fire. As the showroom was being rebuilt, the business and its families spent time cleaning and rebuilding anything that wasn't destroyed.
Russell Aycock still has business cards on his desk that were singed by an eight-alarm fire that destroyed his family business in August 2015.
"I guess I'm sentimental about some things," Aycock said. "I've got my new cards, but it's just something that survived."
The cards aren't the only thing that survived the fire -- the business itself, even in the face of Hurricane Matthew and the subsequent flooding that put Wayne County under water in October 2016, is still going strong.
An open house for the business was held Oct. 21, 2016.
The process of getting the doors reopened was a challenging one, but the Aycock family persevered, just as their business has since 1975.
Around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 4, 2015, the Goldsboro Fire Department responded to a working structure fire at the business.
After the first engines arrived on scene and reported heavy smoke and fire rolling out of the building, seven volunteer fire departments also responded to the scene and 10 tankers and two ladder trucks were used to contain and extinguish the blaze.
The fire started in an upstairs office area above the showroom floor, causing the second floor to give way and allowing the flames to run up the walls into the ceilings, destroying the structure.
According to reports from the fire, the blaze roared on for almost four hours before officially being ruled as extinguished.
An electrical spark started the fire between the ceiling and second-floor offices above the showroom.
Now, from the ashes, the family business has rebuilt, working tirelessly since the fire to continue serving its customers in the face of adversity.
"Right after that, we got set up in this temporary office, they were portable rental trailers, and we moved the parts that were salvageable back out under the shelter and enclosed it," Aycock said. "We kept running the best we could without our regular computer system. We decided right after the fire that we were going to rebuild."
Aycock said the company started tearing down the old building to prepare for a new one in October 2015, around two months after the fire, and continued to operate out of its mobile offices, relying on memory and work ethic to keep its customers happy.
"It was challenging, is that a good word?" Aycock said. "You kind of put the rest of everything else on hold, because between trying to work and everything else, it's like adding a second job to the mix."
Aycock said his customers remained loyal throughout the trying time of getting the structure rebuilt, and continued to come to the store for their needs.
"They've showed a lot of compassion about it and they understood at certain times we were handicapped to a certain degree," Aycock said.
Aycock said the business went a month without electricity on the site after the fire, running off of generators to keep operations rolling.
"You don't want you customers to go somewhere else," Aycock said. "You do everything you can to keep them up and going and satisfied and willing to come back."