In early February, Nortrax Southeast, a John Deere retailer, opened a parts facility in Sarasota at 6935 15th St. This is the first parts store of two planned to open in Florida this year. The second is located in Pompano Beach and will open in two months.

“We opened [the Sarasota] store to get closer to our customers in that area,” said Rick Rigsby, Nortrax Southeast regional parts manager.

For many Nortrax customers, it was “quite a long drive to get parts,” he explained. “We looked at the demographics, which told us we need to have a presence in that area.”

The Sarasota location employs four people, including two field service technicians and a salesman.

The technicians, who travel within 50 miles of the new store, are equipped with full-service trucks. Rigsby said most of the work, from air conditioning and PM service to full equipment, can be done in the field.

The 2,500-sq.-ft. Sarasota parts facility stocks an inventory worth “about a half million dollars,” said Rigsby, “and as we grow we will continue to add inventory as necessary.”

He said customers “are very happy that we’re down here because they don’t have to drive to Tampa or to Riverview to get parts. We’ve received good comments on the location and parts availability at the Sarasota location, which ’makes it easier for customers to do business’ (a philosophy the employees at Nortrax live by).

“Our anticipation is this branch will continue to grow and enhance our ability to sell more equipment in the area,” he added.

Nortrax carries new John Deere, Hitachi, Timberjack, Bomag and Hypac equipment lines. The company also has a large stock of used equipment and parts for the construction and forestry industries.

Nortrax Southeast has full-service locations in Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach, FL, and parts facilities in Riverview and now Sarasota, FL.

For more information, call 941/752-1300 or visit www.nortrax.com.

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