Shopfront in Richmond
“We distribute and sell specialized off-road machinery that is used for personnel and equipment transportation, snow grooming and brush clearing,” says Mike Desmarais.
On a Main Street where it is not surprising to see that another store has closed, the appearance of a new sign over a small storefront is noticeable, even if the name, Track, printed in black in a dynamic font on a white background, says little about what the small business might be.
As it turns out, Trackinc.ca is not a small business at all, even if its front door at 101 Main Street gives entry only to a modest office.
While the sign is new, Mike Desmarais, the owner and CEO of Track, has maintained a Richmond office for over 35 years. As well, he has owned the building since 1984 when he was 24 years old and bought it to accommodate his first business venture.
“We distribute and sell specialized off-road machinery that is used for personnel and equipment transportation, snow grooming and brush clearing,” says Mike Desmarais. “I bought into this business in 2010 and have expanded each year since. The biggest markets for our type of products are Quebec, Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. We have very little market share in Quebec and Ontario.”
“Ontario only just became part of our territory,” he explains, “and Quebec was not a priority for the previous American owners, even though it was only five miles from their operations in Newport. They saw Quebec as a strange place dominated by Bombardier, where customers spoke French, used the metric system. and a different currency.”
“Quebec and Ontario are both very large markets that are growing quickly for us,” he continues, “but our presence here is still quite small compared to other markets throughout most of the central US and the maritime provinces where Track Inc has a leading market share. We sell to ski hills but also to municipalities and public utilities. We are expecting to grow significantly in the next several years.”
If there is a business gene, Mike Desmarais undoubtedly has it. His great grandfather was Stanislasedmond Desmarais who started a business in Richmond in the mid1890s hauling coal in the winter and ice in the summer, and who went on to become president of both the Quebec Retailers Association and the Canadian Retailers Association. (S.-E. Desmarais also served a mayor of Richmond and as MNA for Richmond County in the 1920s and 1930s.) Mike’s grandfather, Gerard, and father, Paul, owned and operated a hardware store and lumber yard, while his uncle, Jerome, owned Richmond Transport for many years.
Mike started dabbling in business while still studying at university.
“After my first year at the University of Ottawa,” he recalls, “I found and kept two jobs throughout the whole summer. I worked nights at Canada Post, sorting mail from 10:30 pm to 5:30 am. Then, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, I worked in a small store selling futons. That whole summer I napped between shifts during the week and then slept all weekend to catch up on my sleep.”
“Later, when I went to Laval University to study translation,” he continues, “the Ottawa merchant offered me the chance to open a new store for him in Quebec City, but instead I started my own shop and by Christmas that year, I was supplying over a dozen stores with futons.”
Mike never became a translator. Instead, he dove into futons.
“I started working out of my sister’s basement,” he says. “I was 21 years old, and I was earning $100 an hour. When I took on an employee that suddenly dropped to $50 an hour, but it was still good money.”
He also started buying bankruptcies, including a portion of his father’s. (In the 1970s, Paul Desmarais’ hardware store was first ravaged by fire and then flooded twice, all within the space of just a few years, forcing him into bankruptcy.)
In 1984 he bought a building on Main Street that had previously been the Dyson and Armstrong car dealership. “My intention was to start manufacturing futon furniture as well as futons. I was eligible for a job creation grant of around $200 000 and I hired around a dozen employees.
Unfortunately, the manufacturing didn’t work out. The more employees I took on the more money I lost and after a few years I thought it would be best to get a real job and feed my first child.”
During that period, Mike became one of the founding members of the Comité de promotion industrielle de la region de Richmond, an entity that still exists.
In 1988, he became a sales representative for Camoplast, a company which he served in numerous roles over the next 23 years. The job entailed a move to the United States and eventually the task of developing markets there as well as in Europe and Asia.
“When I started for Camoplast, I was working out of Kingsbury,” he says.
“After the third of a series of strikes, the last of which became violent, the company moved that part of its operations to Plattsburgh NY, where I helped to get things going. By 1992 I had moved to Detroit to open a sales office for Camoplast, then by 1994 was made general manager of a new Camoplast factory in Ohio.”
After four years as plant manager, Mike moved back to sales, first as sales director for Camoplast’s composite plastics group, and then as sales director for Camoplast’s Traction Group that produced rubber tracks for snowmobile and other tracked vehicles.
In 2010, he decided to go into business for himself. “Camoplast had been very good to me but I felt that I’d do even better on my own. I bought the Tucker Sno-cat distributorship for the northeastern states. Sales were in the two-to-three-million-dollar range at that time, and growing the business was difficult because we had only one product line in a limited territory.”
Mike set out to grow the business and by 2015 he was importing new products from Europe and expanding his distribution territory throughout North America. He then acquired Track Inc, a major distributor of off road and tracked vehicles. Now he sells his line of off road and tracked vehicles throughout North America, from California to Newfoundland to Alaska.
He currently sells four types of machines.
“The smallest of these, and the least expensive at around $200 000, is the Snow Rabbit, a machine made in Italy and particularly suited to crosscountry ski centres,” says Mike.
“The highest volume product is the Tucker Sno-cat that sells for around $300 000. Historically, up to the 1980s, the Tucker was purchased by alpine ski hills,” he continues, “but today 90% of different
Tucker Sno-cat sales are to snowmobile and ATV clubs to maintain their winter trails, and to power companies to do winter maintenance under their power lines.”
“Since 2018 we’ve had AEBI steep slope mowers. AEBI is a Swiss manufacturer, and their specialized machines range from $180 000 to $400 000,” he says. “They are popular with Swiss farmers because the machines can work on slopes as steep as 50% when equipped with a winch. Without it, they can still negotiate a 35% slope. These can be used to cut brush or mow grass. In addition to being used on ski hills, they are also especially useful to power and utility companies. For example, picture a dam or a levee with steep sides. Left untouched, shrubbery and trees start to take root, and immediately after you’ll have groundhogs moving in and digging burrows that will weaken the berm, especially after heavy rainfalls. By keeping the dike mowed, the problem is eliminated, and the AEBI is designed to negotiate those steep pitches.”
“Our newest machine,” he continues, “is the CM Dupon. It’s a $500 000 machine built in France and designed for alpine ski hills.”
Currently Mike has a sales office in Richmond, a head office and service centre in Newport, Vermont, and a distribution and service center in Monico, Wisconsin. However, he’s eyeing expansion both in Quebec and south of the snow line in the States. He also expects to expand his product line with electric vehicles in the near future.
As for the new sign at 101 Main Street, Mike Desmarais says, “I’m from Richmond and for different family reasons, I’m working out of this office at least one day per week. It’s useful. I generally keep a low profile, but I thought the company name on the awning might be a nice touch.”
“I bought the Tucker Snocat distributorship for the northeastern states. Sales were in the two-to-threemillion-dollar range at that time, and growing the business was difficult because we had only one product line in a limited territory.”