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Rite-Way Axe in Sun Valley, California has been purchased by a Fresno-based manufacturer. Image contributed

published on April 9, 2021 - 11:40 AM
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Fresno-based Betts Company — the oldest family-owned business in the Central Valley — announced it has acquired a Southern California-based firm.

Betts Company purchased Rite-Way Axle and Suspension located in Sun Valley in Los Angeles from owners Kelly and Nancy Virchow. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1964, Rite-Way is a third-generation family business itself. Betts Company was founded in 1868 in San Francisco. The manufacturer of truck parts relocated to Fresno in 2009. It is currently in its sixth generation of family leadership.

Rite-Way is joining Betts as a truck parts and repair service center, making it the sixth location in California for the Betts Truck Parts & Service division, with two other locations in Phoenix, Arizona, and Portland, Oregeon, for a total of eight locations.

“On behalf of Betts Company and Betts Truck Parts & Service, we are excited to welcome the Rite-Way team as Betts team members,” said Betts Company President Bill Betts in a statement. “The Virchow family has developed a great reputation in the Southern California market. We are excited to have their team join us and continue their tradition of excellent customer service. Rite-Way has a fantastic brand reputation, and we look forward to learning from them as well as bringing some of our strengths to their team.”

All 10 Rite-Way employees will continue to manage day-to-day operations under the supervision of Betts District Manager Ruben Gutierrez.

“We are excited to have a company like Betts Acquire Rite-Way,” Kelly Virchow said in a statement. “We feel like it’s a great fit. Nancy and I naturally gravitated to being acquired by Betts Company, being a family-owned business like ourselves. Rite-Way has been in our family for three generations. Betts Company has been family-owned for six generations, so they recognize the value of a family legacy.


Oldest Family-Owned Businesses in the Central Valley — Ranked

No. 1 Betts Company, Fresno, founded 1868

No. 2 Shepard, Shepard & Janian, Selma, 1883

No. 3 J.D. Heiskell & Company, Tulare, 1886

No. 3 Pacific Publishing Group, Fresno, 1886

No. 3 Schultz Ranch, Riverdale, 1886

No. 6 Pacific Tent & Awning, Fresno, 1895

No. 7 Electric Laboratories, Fresno, 1904

No. 8 Baker Manock & Jensen, Fresno, 1906

No. 9 Ponderosa, O’Neals (Madera County), 1908

No. 10 San Francisco Floral, Fresno, 1913

Source: 2021 Book of Lists

 


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