After all the hard work, the long hours in the sun, the Pratt Guys had done it.
They’d signed the lease for their retail space and showroom, a place they’d be able to show their handcrafted pergolas, picturesque outdoor kitchens and sleek paver designs. The staples of how they would transform plain backyards into catalog-worthy Florida hangouts.
It was a moment to celebrate when they signed the papers in late 2013, finalizing a lease to be among the cadre of specialized home services along Philips Highway.
Soon after, the sign with their 1950s-inspired logo and services hit the roof, telling the world the business would be open in March 2014.
But March passed. April, May and June did, too.
Summer turned to fall and still the brothers didn’t have the time and money needed to devote toward the space. All the renovations they’d do themselves — no way were a couple of craftsmen going to let others try to personalize their style.
Derek Pratt called the delays “definitely frustrating.”
His brother, Adam, the same.
“People said ‘Just open your doors,’” said Adam Pratt, “but you only have one chance for a first impression.”
With weeks turning to months, the eldest Pratt brother, Jason, had an idea.
The guys had used One Spark 2014 to catapult brand awareness. It worked.
So why not try to use the 2015 festival to show Pratt Guys was a One Spark success?
The sign still says March 2014, but Saturday’s the day.
A grand opening with a slight delay, albeit not one caused by the brothers sitting on their hands. That’s never been their style.
Getting their start
Jason Pratt never took to woodworking like Derek and Adam.
It was Derek who showed that eagerness at an early age, taking after his grandfather. Receiving a metal tool set around the age of 7 spurred his interest in building.
Adam took after his older brother.
In high school, woodshop was Derek Pratt’s specialty.
Adam Pratt, too, who excelled in the subject.
“He did beautiful work and really put his heart into it,” said Wayne Perpall, Adam Pratt’s teacher at Mandarin.
Perpall retired in 2010 after 34 years in the school system. He said he always had the sense Adam Pratt would end up doing something in the business. Based on the time, effort and results he showed.
“I’m not really surprised,” he said. “He and his brothers are real hard workers.”
Jason Pratt said to this day, if it wasn’t for his brothers’ woodshop classes, there would be no Pratt Guys.
In 2004, Derek and his father started Pratt Home Maintenance Service, kind of a “Mr. Fix It” venture with a specialty in crown molding and custom built-in shelving. Adam Pratt was in school, but joined when he determined college just wasn’t his style.
Concrete work came naturally. Then custom kitchen and bathroom redesigns, although they were time consuming for the small operation.
The recession that began in 2007 hit the business, with Derek Pratt having to step away for a full-time job as a deliveryman to help make ends meet.
“Worst job in the world,” he said. “I loved working for myself … it was doing good, then things just got bad.”
Without bills like his brother, Adam Pratt was able to maintain clients and keep the business afloat.
He was doing work on Gary Doyle’s Empire Point home when the job called for more help. Rooms needed remodeling, but the worst part was wood rot caused by termites.
“It was a bad situation,” said Doyle, who’s known the family for years.
Derek Pratt quit the terrible job and was back doing what he loved.
Getting the call
The business wasn’t a high-advertising affair. Most inquiries came from Craigslist ads.
Out of the blue one day, a call came in asking if the guys could build a pergola.
“I didn’t know what the heck a pergola was,” Adam Pratt said.
So he did what anyone needing quick information would do. He Googled it. And he liked what he saw –– a wooden outdoor piece that’d be perfect for their skills.
“We can build that,” Adam Pratt recalled saying to himself. “We can build that but better.”
Derek and Adam Pratt set off for the job, doing all the cutting and staining on site. It took about a day and a half, but the end result was impressive — enough so that the customer commented the guys must build them all the time.
Not quite. Not yet, at least.
A friend participating in the 2010 edition of Jacksonville Home and Patio Show had a booth and the brothers built a custom pergola for it.
The structure ended drawing more than the booth — the guys were on to something.
Work and jobs continued and in 2012 the brothers decided to have their own booth in the Home and Patio Show, spending just about every cent they had to enter.
It was there they met Earth Works, a specialty outdoor landscaper who they ended up partnering with them the next year for an even bigger booth.
The pergolas, outdoor kitchen, pavers and landscaping were impressive enough to win Best in Show for 2013.
They had something. Momentum on their side, it was time to grow in late 2013.
Jason Pratt stepped in for a bigger role, helping with marketing and the business side of things.
The Pratt Guys were born and the lease for the Philips Highway showroom was signed.
At first, the guys thought the end of the year would be a good time to open. Then they pushed it to spring 2014.
The sign went up. March 2014 it was, but life gets in the way sometimes.
The One Spark effect
The guys couldn’t pull themselves away from the job to really revamp the site. They didn’t have the money, either.
As March 2014 came around, One Spark emerged as an idea. Jason Pratt had been a volunteer the year before and knew it could be great for the business. His brothers didn’t quite think so.
“We were slammed with work,” Adam Pratt said. “And also, what the heck is One Spark?”
Begrudgingly, Derek and Adam Pratt signed off. If they were going to do it, though, they were going to do it right.
Their investment approached $50,000 in time and materials to pull away from work and build what they called Pratt Guys Village in Hemming Park.
After the first day, Derek and Adam Pratt came around. It was a hit.
The brothers sought $200,000 to get their storefront going, but ultimately received just about $3,500.
That money didn’t matter, really. The exposure did.
The pergola and outdoor escape business boomed, with its three best months following the crowdfunding festival.
Jobs continued to flow. The extra profits could be spent on materials to turn the showroom into what they always envisioned.
A grand, grand opening
Over the past several weeks, it’s been crunch time.
Long days and nights led to transforming the warehouse and shop into a hand-built showroom displaying everything they have to offer.
Sales representatives they’re in business with from across the U.S. stopped by this week and left impressed.
It’s all pointing to Saturday, the day they’ve been anticipating since signing those papers in late 2013.
The almost all-day grand opening likely will have upward of 600 people passing through the doors, Jason Pratt said.
“I could not care less if we sold one thing Saturday,” Derek Pratt said. “I just want people to see what we do.”
Doyle said he’d be there, too.
“I’m so impressed and proud of them,” he said. “They deserve everything they’ve got now.”
It’ll be a party, a celebration for the family business.
One that’s more than a year in the making, but fully worth the wait.
@writerchapman
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