SELF-STORAGE SYSTEMS

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Experts in Self-Storage Building Design and Development

Trachte (pronounced Trock-tee) is a company that designs, manufactures, and erects a full line of durable, pre-engineered and customized steel self-storage systems. Headquartered in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, we are one of the largest manufacturers of steel self-storage systems in the industry. With over 120 years of experience, we’ve mastered the art of developing smart building products designed, engineered, and customized to meet your needs.

We are also committed to delivering services with your needs in mind. We’ll be there with expert advice, industry know-how, and educational resources to guide you through the entire development process.

Trachte History

Founded in 1901, the company has a rich history of metal building construction. Trachte’s early structures are easily identifiable by their barrel-vaulted roofs, serving as garages, aircraft hangars, gas stations, restaurants and more through out the Midwest. Trachte’s early structures can still be found throughout the Madison area and are considered by many to be an important part of the area history. Today, Trachte is the top producer of self storage buildings in North America, with buildings in all 50 states and numerous foreign countries, offering complete design and building services. In addition to stand-alone buildings, Trachte designs, manufactures, and installs components to convert existing buildings into self storage businesses.

1899

Trachte brothers, George, age 21, and Arthur, age 19, travel from Watertown, WI to Madison, WI to pursue work. Both have become experienced apprentices to the tinsmith trade. At the age of 14 and 16, respectively, George and Arthur began to learn the trade of “tinner.”

1901

With a capital investment of $200, the Trachte brothers rent 600 sq. ft. of space at 233-235 King Street and open Trachte Brothers Sheet-Metal Workers. Their first order is for $10 worth of dippers and pans from Madison Candy Company. The city directory lists the brothers as being Madison’s youngest businessmen.

1907

Trachte Brothers Co. moves to a larger space at Bedford and West Washington Ave. near the Illinois Central Depot.

1912

Trachte Brothers Co. designs and patents a roll-forming machine to manufacture corrugated livestock water tanks. Their new design of packing and riveting tanks instead of using solder revolutionizes the tank industry.

1914

Trachte Brothers once again outgrow their space and purchase a former bicycle factory at 102 N. Dickinson St. in Madison, WI. This will be the company’s home until 1985.

1916

Trachte Brothers Co. is incorporated and publishes its first catalog illustrating the company’s line of tanks and heaters. The catalog lists 131 different sizes and styles of stock tanks plus feed troughs, mortar boxes, oil storage tanks, and feed cookers.

1919

The first Trachte steel structure is built to house an automobile, Arthur’s new Dodge. The garage was a crude design using corrugated steel panels. This striking novelty attracted considerable attention from friends and neighbors. Soon, Trachte was manufacturing a more sophisticated version made of angled steel, iron framework, and corrugated sheeting. An 8′ x 16′ garage sold for $100 FOB Madison, WI.

1923

Trachte Brothers begin to market their steel buildings throughout the Midwest and southern states. In the south, the fire-prone wooden structures housing cotton gins were soon replaced by steel Trachte buildings that could withstand the threats of weather and fire damage. With that, the product line began to take on new shapes (and sizes) with structures for warehousing, gas stations, restaurants, airplane hangers, automobile dealerships, store fronts, and even summer cottages.

1926

The 25th Anniversary Catalog is published to showcase Trachte’s complete line of steel products. A 40′ x 80′ addition is added to the factory to house the carpenter shop.

1927

On August 22, a Trachte airplane hangar houses Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis during his visit to Madison’s Penco Field.

1928

The concept of self storage begins to emerge. In print ads, Trachte positions this fertile opportunity to investors by describing the buildings as portable steel garages that could shelter the “more than 20 million motor cars without homes”. Potential investors began to realize the incredible possibilities and the concept of self storage as an investment was born.

1930

Trachte introduces the “modernistic cornice” mansard/facade for storefront designs. The design is intended to provide an art deco appearance to the company’s barrel-vaulted roofs.

1938

The company produces a 48-page catalog featuring its entire line of products, including garages, warehouses, service stations, industrial buildings, and farm buildings. The catalog also highlights Trachte’s doors including panel, sliding, and overhead.

1945

It wasn’t until after World War II when metal buildings gained widespread public acceptance. At the forefront of the metal building craze was the Quonset Hut. The popularity of the Quonset lent well to Trachte’s barrel-vaulted roof buildings with corrugated siding. Soon Trachte’s commercial and industrial buildings were marketed through a national dealer network. Trachte buildings became familiar sights as companies such as Oscar Mayer, Schappe Pontiac, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Standard Oil, and Sinclair Oil considered them ideally suited to meet their needs

1952

Trachte Brothers Co. changes its name to Trachte Metal Buildings Company

1962

Dave Trachte forms an building company which currently exists as “Trachte, LLC” in Oregon WI with a web site of www.trachteusa.com.

The Oregon, WI company remains separate from “Trachte Metal Buildings Company” which became today’s Trachte Building Systems in Sun Prairie.

1965

Lawrence “Red” Walters, a former officer of Trachte Brothers Co., approaches Trachte to manufacture and install the new A&W Root Beer pagoda design for his restaurant in Edgerton, WI. This was the first A&W steel pagoda built in the United States.

1968

Trachte Metal Buildings Company is sold to Paul Lindau. Manufacturing steel buildings for the fast food industry becomes the company’s mainstay. Clients include Kentucky Fried Chicken, A&W Root Beer, Shakey’s Pizza Parlors, Lum’s Family Restaurants, Dairy Queen and Wendy’s. Complete self-contained modules, including restrooms, kitchen equipment, wiring, etc., were built in Trachte’s plant and transported to locations throughout the United States.

1974

Trachte enters the self-storage industry by pioneering one of the first all-steel mini-warehouses in the country. The first mini storage building sold is located in Green Bay, WI. The structure is composed of angle iron framing.

1975

Trachte Metal Buildings Company changes its name to Trachte Building Systems, Inc.

1976

Trachte sells its first mini storage building outside the United States. The facility is located in Edmonton, Canada.

1978

Robert Trachte retires as President. As son of founder Arthur Trachte, he is the last Trachte family member to be involved in the company’s operation.

1979

The company sells its first two-story mini storage building. The facility is located in Glendale, California.

1981

Trac-Rite® Door, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trachte, is incorporated. Trac-Rite will manufacture steel roll-up doors for self storage and light commercial applications.

1983

Trac-Rite Door introduces the Guardian I Lock as an option on its steel roll-up doors.

1984

Stephen Pagelow purchases the majority control of Trachte Building Systems, Inc.

1985

Trachte purchases six acres of land in the Sun Prairie Business Park and begins construction of its 40,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility. On November 4, the company moves to its new location.

1987

Trachte expands its manufacturing plant with an additional 9,000 sq. ft.

1988

The Micro Storage Unit is introduced serving portable storage needs of owners and renters.

1989

Trac-Rite Door introduces the Guardian II Lock as an option on its steel roll-up doors.

1990

Trachte redesigns its standard self-storage building to include a new 18-gauge header and jamb system. This improvement eliminates the need for exterior bolts giving the building a clean, finished look.

1991

Trachte enters into an agreement with Fire Facilities Inc. to manufacture the company’s line of steel fire training towers.

1993

The manufacturing plant is expanded adding 18,000 sq. ft. to the facility.

Trachte wins Mini Storage Messenger’s Facility of the Year award for Satellite Self Storage located in Ocean, NJ. The project is a two-story self-storage facility built over two existing one-story buildings.

1995

Trachte expands its plant again adding 23,000 sq. ft. for a total of 100,000 sq. ft.

1996

In February, the company launches its first website and benefits from a sale from this medium.

Trachte introduces a free seminar program on how to develop a successful self- storage facility. In its first year, the company hosts six seminars throughout the United States. The seminars appear to be successful and become part of Trachte’s value added service offering

1997

A help line is established to assist contractors during the installation process. Contractors can call the Tech Line to speak directly to knowledgeable Trachte staff regarding construction specifics, ensuring the project is properly assembled.

1999

Trachte purchases a cut-to-length line and a folding machine allowing the manufacture of longer parts. Shortly after, the Boat/RV building is introduced.

An alliance between Trachte and VP Buildings is announced. The partnership is formed to provide VP Building’s distribution network of over 1,000 dealers a quality line of self-storage buildings.

2000

Trachte purchases Fire Facilities, Inc. As the leading provider of steel fire training towers to the fire industry, Fire Facilities nicely complements Trachte’s core competency of delivering quality, customized building solutions to its targeted markets.

2001

Trachte celebrates 100 years of business. The occasion is marked by an open house at the company’s headquarters on September 14. A candlelight vigil is held in honor of the events of September 11.

2002

Trachte receives the Certificate of Recognition award from the State of Wisconsin – Department of Workforce Development for successfully improving its workplace injury rate. Trachte’s workplace injury rate is now better than the statewide incident average for companies within the same industry category.

2004

An initiative to expand the manufacturing facility begins. Approximately 27,000 sq. ft. is added. The manufacturing plant now exceeds 116,000 sq. ft.

2005

Trac-Rite Door introduces the SpaceGuard latch and cylinder lock as new features on its steel roll-up doors.

2007

CSA-A660 Quality Certification is attained mid-year which ensures Trachte meets Canadian building code requirements and design standards.

In August, Trachte employees purchase the company and form an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP). The newly formed ESOP is tested severely by the recession of 2007 to 2009, but ultimately emerges as a stronger company. This ESOP will become a significant source of wealth generation for long term Trachte employees.

2010

The Small Business Administration now allows loans to self storage businesses for the first time. The availability of credit to self storage developers helps the industry to begin recovery from a construction slowdown that began in 2008. Trachte purchases former competitor Tech-Fast buildings.

2015

With sales restored to record levels, Trachte’s manufacturing floor receives new and updated equipment. Benefits include lower energy consumption and faster manufacturing speed.

2017

Trachte subsidiary Trac-Rite develops a new robotic manufacturing cell for roll-up doors. Known internally as the ADT (short for Automatic door table) and paired with a new panel rollformer, the robotic system eliminates a significant amount of manual material handling while increasing the company’s capacity. The robotic system goes through a series of improvements in following years to increase speed and reliability.

The new panel rollformer brings an additional benefit of forming a more precisely rolled panel, improving the operation of installed roll up doors.

2020

Trachte Building Systems, Inc. announces the acquisition of three related businesses located in Vernon, Alabama: Roof Mart, LLC, Made Right, LLC, and Metal Land, LLC.

This acquisition provides Trachte Building Systems with a new operating platform that will improve its position as the leading resource for self-storage building systems, steel curtain doors, refurbishment services and public safety training systems. It will also provide the required resources to accelerate the growth of Roof Mart and Made Right Buildings.

The Roof Mart companies were started by Robert McNees in 2004 and are based in Vernon, Alabama. Roof Mart and Made Right manufacture and market metal roof panels, wall panels, trims, trusses, sheds, and post and beam building packages. They also erect post-frame buildings.

Also in 2020, Trachte proudly paid off the remaining debt associated with becoming 100% employee owned. As a debt free and employee owned company, Trachte invests for long term success, not short-term quarterly profits.

2023

To accommodate growing demand, Trachte Building Systems opened a new distribution center in Sun Prairie, WI. The second facility is located just 5 miles down the road from Trachte’s headquarters. This recent expansion will allow for them to increase productivity and provide faster lead times.

Certifications

CSA A660-10 Certified

Trachte is a CSA A660-10 certified manufacturer as typically required by Canadian building codes.

MB-250-B Accredited

Trachte meets the requirements of AC473, IAS Accreditation Criteria for Inspection Programs for Manufacturers of Cold-Formed Steel Structural and Nonstructural Components Not Requiring Welding. This certification means that Trachte is ready to provide materials in areas where materials manufacturers must be certified to do so.