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 The Sunlawn Story
by Terry Jarvis
We (Terry and Sandra Jarvis) started using push reel mowers in 1991. We were tired of the noise and fumes of mowers and blowers so we decided to become part of the solution instead of the problem. We first obtained an old mower at a garage sale; it didn't do much of a job but it did take me back to when I was a kid in the 1950s; it wasn't nearly as hard to push now that I was over four feet tall. The next Spring we went searching for a new one. We were surprised that every one we saw seemed just the same as what I'd used in my boyhood. We thought "somebody has to have made some improvements on hand mowers since the 50's" so the search began. Over the next three years we evaluated and/or purchased hand mowers from every manufacturer that we could find anywhere in the world.
As it turned out the Europeans still used manual mowers, had even improved them somewhat. We gave some of these lighter improved models a try and after just a couple of weeks Sandra and I were discussing "who gets to mow this week" because we both were having so much fun at it! It was the first time that we had found ourselves using the words fun and mowing in the same sentence.
We couldn't be the only people with a small lawn who enjoyed this quiet, useful exercise that left our lawn looking so good, we reasoned. Such a discovery ought to be marketed; it made both economic and environmental sense. Thus Sunlawn, Inc. (Sandra gave the company its name) was born. In the winter of 1996 Terry made the first trip to Europe to gain the rights to import mowers into the US market.
We learned right away that we would have to be patient as the public rediscovered lighter, quieter, easier to push hand mowers. It soon became clear that gaining retail space in the hardware and garden stores of the US was not going to happen overnight. We decided to focus on marketing via the Internet. That was a fortunate move; sales have continued to increase every year since and reel type mowers are now one of the fastest growing segments of the lawn mower industry.
During the first five years as Sunlawn sold and supported the European mowers we learned much about the vast variation of turf types, climate and soils in North America compared to Europe. Thus we began to design Sunlawn brand mowers which would be better suited to the widely varied conditions encountered on North American lawns. We determined from the outset that Sunlawn mowers would be the best -- best made, best performing, best supported -- that we could possibly offer.
We brought out our first two products -- the EM-1 and the MM-1 -- in 2005. Terry learned that the only way to get the very best was to live at the manufacturing location in China, as he now does for most of the year, to personally supervise the development and assure the quality of every product. That commitment to quality is visible in Sunlawn products. We are proud of our products and proud of our team.
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