In 1946 the company known as Drake Equipment Company was founded by a man named Robert B. Drake. The initial focus of the company was to be a distributor of a line of hoist and truck bodies in the Springfield, Illinois area and surrounding communities. In the year 1948 William S. Scruggs joined his son-in-law and started a similar company in the Decatur, Illinois area known as Scruggs-Drake. Thereafter, Drake Equipment Company was known as Drake-Scruggs Equipment Company in Springfield, Illinois and Scruggs-Drake Equipment Company in Decatur, Illinois. The young companies provided various lines of equipment including lawn mowers, to provide quality products and service to meet the needs of the growing and changing markets.
As the family-owned businesses continued to grow, market and consumer demand changed and so did the service and equipment lines. One such service was the customizing of the utility vehicles. In the growing marketplace, the conversion of all types of vehicles continued to offer new opportunities and services for the company to provide.
In 1964 with the retirement of William Scruggs, the two companies merged and became known as Drake-Scruggs Equipment Inc. in both store locations. The company continued to be a family owned business focused on bringing quality products with comprehensive services to the Midwest communities. In 1988, the opening of a facility in Grandview, Missouri was added to help in fulfilling the mission of the company.
Today the company is still a family-owned business. After the death of Robert B. Drake, the third generation has continued on in the business. As the owner, Bruce R. Drake continues the same focus of his grandfather and father in providing quality lines of products and excellent service to Drake-Scruggs Equipment Inc. customers.
The pictures below show the progression from days past to the current times of the Drake-Scruggs Equipment Inc. On the left is a picture of our founder, Robert B. Drake and his father-in-law William S. Scruggs, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in 1956 where they were demonstrating their new equipment. On the right is Bruce Drake, 50 years later in the same location. Sure, much has changed and Robert would be amazed at how far Bruce has brought the company, but we have the same commitment to our customers in delivering quality equipment at a reasonable price.
With our history and experience, Drake-Scruggs Equipment Inc. will be enjoying many more exciting, and challenging years.
We hope you’ll join us.
