The Brief Weingartz is celebrating its 80th year in business in Metro Detroit. The outdoor power equipment brand has six stores across the area. Despite being a family business, there is a motto “You have to earn it, no matter who you are related to.”

The jingle – “Everything from lawn to snow …” is well-known, but the family-run business Weingatz is celebrating 80 years of serving Metro Detroit.

The backstory:

It all started with one store in Clinton Township and it has been growing and changing ever since.

“It’s almost 25 years now that we’ve been using the same jingle that has become a little bit of an ear worm in Detroit,” says Dan Weingartz.

And Dan Weingartz, the CEO of the outdoor power equipment business, says it’s all by design.

“It was a lot of trial and error, there were several iterations of that,” he said.

A jingle is great but it’s hardly enough to keep you in business. When it’s the family name on the line – that changes a lot.

As the company Weingartz turns 80 years old, it’s only natural to look back at where it all started.

“We are a family that has always embraced change a lot and we are okay with the idea that the next decision might be the one that puts us under – but we were always like, just stay focused on what we think is right,” he said.

Decisions that are always made and kept in the family.

“It was very much a family business. You could not go too far without hitting a Weingartz,” he said.

That includes Ron Devriendt, a fourth-generation family member.

“Just being around your family and had a lot of fun doing it (I) got to hangout with all my uncles, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” he said.

Admittedly, when you have a large family coupled with a large business – it can be hard to turn off the shop talk – so they decided to lean into it.

“For years now we have vacationed together up north in Michigan,” said Devriendt. “So there will be 50, 60, 70 of us in a house together, and anything from those who don’t work in the business to those that do, we talk business, we talk anything. It’s just what you grow up in, it is just what you are used to.”

The Weingartz company was built on a motto of “You have to earn it, no matter who you are related to.”

“They worked the parts counter with me, they worked in the back office, they got their hands dirty right alongside with me,” said Jami Krefman, purchasing director. “That really puts things into perspective. They don’t treat themselves any differently.”

They say the secret to the company’s success is to treat everyone like family, staff, customers and of course other family members.

There are currently six retail stores and when asked what the future looks like, we were told they are making a big push into home repair services – always with an emphasis on customer care.