Schagrin Gas: A History of Service
Renewables
Written by Adam Swift   
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Schagrin Gas: A History of Service
A focus on customer service and reliability stretches back to the Depression for this Delaware propane company.
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Middletown, Del.-based Schagrin Gas has a long history of providing propane to customers in the Mid-Atlantic states. Harry Schagrin started the company in 1932 after working as a supplier in the carnival business. Today, the company is run by Schagrin’s grandson, Rick Levinson, and has more than 18,000 customers in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

Through the decades and the generations, the company has continued to stress the benefits of customer service and offering more than just low prices. “Customer service hasn’t gone out of fashion, and that was something my grandfather was very serious about,” Levinson said. “That’s why we retain about 99.8% of our customers.”

Schagrin Gas: A History of Service
Rick Levinson, president and owner
Levinson said the companies that prosper are ones that can back up their prices with customer education and service. “Some of the dealers that sell only on low price think that is the only thing customers care about,” he said. “But a good percentage of customers want something more than just low prices. They want reliability and service, and this is what we provide.”

Small beginnings
Harry Schagrin was traveling in Delaware in 1932 when he came across a hardware store that had a gas range in the window. He got literature on the range and showed it to his mother-in-law, who liked what she saw. Soon, there was a gas range with a 100-pound propane cylinder hooked up in the kitchen.

“The family decided they really liked the gas range, and they decided to sell some gas ranges in the five-and-ten-cent store my great-grandfather owned,” Levinson said. “After a while, my grandfather decided to get in the gas business, and that’s when he started to sell gas ranges, or cooking stoves as they were called back then, and the small tank hook-ups.”

Levinson’s father got involved in the business after he returned from World War II. According to Levinson, his father canvassed the region and started to bring in bigger accounts.

“The company continued to grow, and in 1950, it put in its first 30,000 gallon tank here in Middletown,” he said. “It continued to add gas plants and storage facilities in Delaware and Maryland throughout the 1950s.”

By the 1960s and ’70s, Schagrin began working more with residential developers and was one of the first companies to install underground propane tanks in place of above-ground tanks for residential developments. “We wanted to lend an air of sophistication to the homes, and no one wants to look at an ugly tank in their back yard,” Levinson said.

When the company began working with residential builders, Levinson said it was a challenge to convince them that propane was the best heating option when natural gas was not available. “For the longest time in our area, people used heat pumps, and in this area, it gets cold enough that the heat pump really doesn’t generate enough heat without an electric backup,” he said. “In the 1980s, we did a lot of advertising around a successful campaign called Dump the Pump. Today, very few builders use heat pumps; they either use natural gas or propane.”

Keeping its edge
As other propane companies have stripped their service departments, Schagrin has maintained full service and appliance sales departments. Levinson said many smaller gas companies have been bought out by major companies that have either cut service or subcontracted it out.

“We maintain a full-service staff in all of our branches with 24-hour emergency service available,” he said. “We have four-wheel drive vehicles, so no matter how bad the weather is, we are equipped to get out to our customers.”

The company also offers a wider range of products and services than many gas companies. “We have a full line of gas appliances, and we’re able to attract new customers with our hearth products, new tankless water heaters, and high efficiency heaters,” Levinson said. “It’s a one-stop shop, and we do a lot to educate our customers on our products and services.”

Levinson said the company prides itself on its helpful and knowledgeable employees. “We have about 80 employees, and more and more in the service end, we are looking for people with a background in electricity, because a good part of the service has to do with reading more sophisticated and advanced circuit boards and understanding the electric controls,” he said. “All of our service managers and office staff also have college degrees.”

All of the company’s employees know the importance of putting the customer first. “In all of our branches, we really go all out to take care of the customers,” Levinson said. “When someone calls in, they don’t get an automated system, they get a live person.”

The level of respect and service given to customers also carries across to how employees are treated by management. “We have people who have been with us for more than 30 years,” Levinson said. “Our employees are well taken care of, well paid, and have good benefits. Very few leave us.”

Although the state of the economy has slowed the company’s growth, it has held steady and is ready to move forward. “We are selective with what we take on, but we are still in growth mode and we are prepared for when the recession ends,” said Levinson. “We’re selective with what we do and who we do business with. We want to make a profit and not give away things for free.”

As the company continues to grow, a fourth generation will play an increased role in the family business. Levinson’s son Andrew has been with the company for eight years and is a vice president, and his daughter Jill handles the company’s marketing and advertising.
 
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