Established in 1969,
Hitch and Trailer
"Hitch and Trailer" blossomed with its proud owner, Frank. Frank was already in the trailer industry for many years by this time, (in a wholesale position). Integrity, respect and his quirky characteristics are the corner stone of his success. If you have ever visited here, you will know what I mean.
Later accompanied by his son Lorne. As a team they have done the utmost to make the company one that upholds the ethics of "value for your money" and "it is better to do one thing and do it well!"
The year Hitch and Trailer opened it's doors it sold 100's of hitches, to enthusiastic travelers. Now it sells significantly more hitches every year, as well as the accompanying accessories. The majority of our clientele are repeat customers. Our customers tell us, "It's where everyone comes to get a trailer hitch installed!"
Throughout the years...1969-2008
1969: HTS began on Nugget Avenue (McCowan & Sheppard Ave. area). Now, because hitches were not readily available for every car "off-the-shelf," almost every hitch had be "custom made." Hitch and Trailer already owned an ironworker and a couple of large metal presses (one being capable of bending materials with 100 tons of pressure. These machines were very impressive and state-of-the- art at the time. This machinery provided the means to create sleek and well-designed trailer hitches under even the most challenging vehicles. Also at that time, however, cars had very substantial frames underneath them, "camping" was just becoming popular and gas was about 36 cents a gallon! House trailers were just becoming popular. Obviously since each hitch was made one-piece-at-a-time, we only installed several in one day. In 1970, Hitch and Trailer moved to a larger building located at 2017 Brimley Road (near Sheppard Ave.). The shop now had 3 hoists. This space provided more opportunity for expansion, both for parking and throughput. Our annual sales were growing each year, as the "Hitch & Trailer" name became better known in the Recreational Vehicle industry. We were now doing work for trailer dealers, car dealers as well as private individuals.
1974: Due to redevelopment, the building we were then leasing was being sold and scheduled for demolition. We needed a better location this time since, at that time Brimley Road was a "dead-end" street south of Sheppard Avenue and the residents living there did not want to see it be any other way. We needed to be seen. We found a building near Birchmount Road and Lawrence Avenue at 2147 Lawrence Avenue East. We would enjoy about 7,000 square feet here for several years. There was also a basement were we could keep some of our inventory. We had 3 hoists here, 2 separate shops and a set of ramps we would build at the back of the shop. By now RV Trailering was very popular even though the gas prices were increasing steadily. Custom made trailer hitches were now being offered from 5 large companies, although availability in Canada was scarce. Inventory now became the main objective, because it was now possible to install a hitch in less than an hour, but since every car, every year, make and model was different. inventory was growing steadily.
1980: We were distributors for 4 of the largest trailer hitch manufacturers, all who also had their own "growing pains." The supply of trailer hitches coming into Canada now was getting more steady and inventory was still growing as well as our customer base.
1984: The "gas crunch" had hit the Trailering enthusiasts in the pocketbook. So there was a slight decline in the growth of our industry. We decided to try diversifying and got into the propane business. This went well, but we could never be there long enough to keep everyone happy, so we decided to sublet part of our building to help cut costs. When we found a tenant to share the building, by coincidence, they were in the propane appliance business. So they took over our sideline and once again, everyone was happy. At least until we got word that the lease was up on our building and that it would be sold and again scheduled for demolition. Real estate prices were very high by now and it was very difficult to find another location and move in our slow season.
1987: We realized that streamlining was the best way to go and we found our new home at our present location at 37 Minford Avenue. We still have 2 hoists and our ramps and we have tailored our business down to a science. We have a very large inventory of trailer hitches "in stock," now even including "Exotic cars" such as, BMW's, Audi's and Mercedes. We also continue to make custom hitches that are unavailable from any other source and we still do dealer work. Most hitches take about an hour (or less) to install, because we HAVE done this before! Come and see what we do here!
2002 to present : Frank retires... well sort of... he pops in now and then to see if we are still "up to spec"... he really cares how well we take care of our customers! Frank's son Lorne has resumed control over the operation now and tries to keep everything running as smoothly as Frank did, despite the rising steel costs, fuel surcharges, amalgamation of suppliers corporations and "new guys" opening up on the block. We are still at the same location and we plan to stay here for many more years to come. Our success is still relative to knowing the vehicles we work on and our products well and most important, looking after our customers! Our customers are our best means of advertising! We always look forward to seeing you...