Installation Specialist Davaco Merges With Crane Worldwide Logistics
Although no details were provided, CEO Rick Davis said the arrangement will help expand Davaco’s business outside of North America.
With offices in Dallas and Toronto, Davaco specializes in handling high-volume remodel, reset and rollout programs for big box and specialty retailers, convenience and grocery stores, quick service and casual dining operators and hotels, motels, extended-stay suites and resorts.
Launched in 1990 as Fixture Perfect, Davaco did work for a national video chain that was opening stores on average every 14 hours during its early growth years, according to a description on the Davaco website. It did not identify the video chain.
The company has since diversified its client base and in 2002 changed its name to Davaco— a shortened version of A Rick Davis Co. — and focused on providing service directly to companies with national brands.
“We are proud of our merger with Crane,” Davis said in a statement issued March 23. “Because the movement and timely delivery of owner-furnished items is closely linked to our execution schedules, having this added in-house expertise helps to ensure the efficiencies and ultimate success of our retail, restaurant and hospitality programs.”
Crane Chairman Jim Crane said the two companies have worked on many “high-profile and time-sensitive programs” in the past.
“The efficiencies gained between our two companies helped to solidify the vision of providing unprecedented and streamlined services that can be extended throughout North America and other countries,” Crane said. “We welcome Davaco to our Crane family of best-in-class companies.”
Crane is the former CEO and founder of Eagle Global Logistics and chairman of the Houston Astros baseball team. EGL was one of the largest U.S.-based freight forwarders when it was purchased for nearly $2 billion by Ceva Logistics in 2007.
A year later, Crane started over with a business to provide airfreight and ocean forwarding, customs brokerage, trucking and logistics services, and set a goal of reaching $1 billion in gross revenue by 2015.
He missed that target, but the company has grown to encompass 100 locations in 25 countries. And for 2016, Crane generated gross revenue of $689 million, according to data provided by Armstrong & Associates Inc., a logistics industry research and consulting firm based in West Allis, Wisconsin.
