Mark Maechling

Southern California dealership Cal-Lift Inc has added the equipment of Clark Material Handling Co to its product mix and is shopping for a new home in the City of Industry.

"The appointment of Cal-Lift gives Clark additional coverage in the large Los Angeles and Inland Empire markets," says Scott Johnson, director of dealer services with Lexington, Kentucky-based Clark, in disclosing the appointment last week.

Cal-Lift dealer principal Mark Maechling notes, "Clark offers a tremendous growth opportunity".

Another dealership, Clarklift of California with locations in Santa Fe Springs and Ontario, California remains an authorised Clark dealer in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, Johnson says. "We believe the LA market is large enough to support more than one dealer." Dealer principal Fernando Corral heads the Clarklift of California organisation.

Maechling owns Cal-Lift and serves as president and chief executive officer.

Commerce-based Cal-Lift was formed in 1964, employs 75 staff and recorded sales of USD32 million for the fiscal year ended 30 September, up 10% from the previous fiscal year.

In addition to Clark, Cal-Lift represents the product lines of Taylor, Linde, Mitsubishi and Ottawa.

Cal-Lift has a strong market position in bigger forklifts from Louisville, Mississippi-based Taylor Group Inc, Maechling observes. Now with Clark, "we will have a better opportunity to compete on small lift trucks with Hyster, Yale and Toyota".

Cal-Lift operates in a 60-year-old 20,000 square foot (1,800 sqm) facility in Commerce and, 47 miles (75km) away, a 10,000 square foot (900 sqm) building in Fontana.

"Our existing (Commerce) site is too small," Maechling notes. "We need more efficiencies, freeway frontage and more fibreoptics instead of copper for communications."

Cal-Lift is bidding on structures and real estate in two possible locations and would like to occupy up to 40,000 square feet (3,600 sqm) in centrally located City of Industry.

Cal-Lift hopes to move to a new site in early 2009 and close both the Commerce and Fontana locations.

Cal-Lift is the latest example showing how the Clark brand continues to grow under the ownership of Young-An Hat Company Ltd (YAHC).
The venerable forklift manufacturer filed in 2000 for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code and emerged from that status in early 2003. YAHC of Buchsan, South Korea was the successful bidder in a bankruptcy court auction.

Chairman Baik Sung-Hak, who established YAHC in 1959, conducts business under a principle of charitably giving back to society. "The Clark of today has adopted the chairman's style and philosophy," Johnson reports. "The result is, we believe, an organisation that is very comfortable to do business with and provides a great deal of partnership security to our valued dealer partners."

Including Cal-Lift, Clark has named six new dealerships this year "with two additional appointments to announce in the next 45 days," Johnson indicates. "The positive results you see today began in earnest as far back as 2005" and include "seven straight quarters of picking up market share."