This Small Family-Owned Business Has Been Keeping Rhode Island Cool For 50 Years
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
The Sweet Family has been keeping Rhode Island cooler -- and warmer -- since 1972. PHOTO: David Gates via Greg Sweet.
Koolco, a staple on Main Street in Wakefield since 1972, celebrates its half-century mark this year — and according to owner Greg Sweet, it hasn’t always been easy.
In fact, Sweet says they’ve been so busy so far in 2022, that he hasn’t even thought yet about planning a celebration.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“No, I haven’t had the chance to think about a party,” said Sweet in an interview with GoLocalProv. “I’ve been busier this year with being short-handed and dealing with parts and equipment. I spend about half the day on the phone checking on parts, a lot of which are made overseas. And hiring is tough.”
Sweet said he hadn’t originally planned to get into the family business.
Once he did, however, and bought Koolco from his father along with his brother in 1999, Koolco made a major pivot in its business model that has proved to be successful.
Getting Into the Family Business
Koolco was started by family patriarch Charles Sweet in 1972 — after making a major life decision.
“My father was a serviceman for Philips Corporation, and they were moving their headquarters from Rhode Island to Massachusetts,” said Sweet. “He didn’t want to uproot the family.”
Sweet said his father spoke with a few people he knew in town and listened to what they thought the need was for a refrigeration company.
“He took a shot and here we are today,” said Sweet.
And when he was growing up, Sweet said he had “zero” plans to get into the family business.
“From day one, I said no way,” said Sweet, who said he had “swept the parking lot and took out the trash” since 1972. “I saw the time and aggravation my dad went through.”
But then Sweet graduated from high school, and said it just “took a few years” of more schooling before he decided he would join the company full time in 1979.
Back then, roughly 90% of the business was commercial, Sweet said.
“We did all the Stop & Shops and A&Ps in Rhode Island, and we did a few other supermarkets, including Ames,” said Sweet. “We saw a few go bankrupt and we lost some business.”
It was when Sweet said that when one supermarket chain was about a third of their business, that he realized that Koolco couldn’t be so dependent on a single area and needed to diversify.
“When I started out, there wasn’t as much central air,” said Sweet. “We then knew it was coming, that there were going to be more homes with it.”
In 1999, Sweet bought the business from his father, along with his brother David.
Now, Sweet says servicing residential properties is about 90% of the business.
Challenges — and Opportunities
Sweet says today, the main challenge continues to be in in hiring.
“We have six people currently,” said Sweet. “We advertise nationwide — we had one person from Texas apply, but had zero experience.”
Sweet says the company ideally hires from New England Tech and other schools, and that even with additional training, it can take several years before a new hire can go out to service calls on their own.
“I could take two, even three new employees right now,” said Sweet.
Meanwhile, Sweet said he would like to see more support from the state for the trades.
“What’s frustrating is that I feel that the state is not promoting the trades — it almost seems like we’re second-class citizens,” said Sweet. “They could make a difference in the trades. I’m not saying giving everyone free education, but I think most tradespeople are willing to take apprentices on, which we’ve done that over the years.”
“We pay well — we just can’t find the people,” said Sweet.
In the meantime, Sweet said that customers are more than willing to pay when their air conditioning goes out.
“More people are more demanding with A/C than heating,” said Sweet. “If we say we can’t get there unless it's sending out someone out overtime — people don’t even ask how much it costs. Heating, people say the next day’s fine.”
“We actually had someone call the police because we couldn’t get there,” said Sweet. “And they weren’t even an existing customer.”
Sweet said that he tries to take everything in stride — and encourages others to do the same.
“We try to keep it lighthearted for the most part,” said Sweet. “We all need that right now.”
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