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Business & Tech

Davis Family's Entrepreneurial Spirit Goes Back Three Generations in Elmhurst

Whether it's coal, gasoline or dog daycare, the Davis family hasn't forgotten that the customer comes first.

As a kid growing up in Elmhurst, John Davis remembers the phone sometimes ringing in the middle of a cold, December night.

His father, John C. Davis (known as “Jack”), was co-owner of Davis Fuel Company, located on Vallette Street near the old Illinois Central Railroad line.

“Someone would call and say, ‘I’m out of fuel oil. The furnace isn’t heating the house,’ " John said. "My dad would have to get up and go get the truck. It was fun for me, to get to ride in the truck.”

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The company was originally owned by Bert A. Davis, John's grandfather. When Bert died in 1945, Jack and his brother, Bert A. Davis Jr., took over the Davis Fuel Company.

John still has the original corporate records showing that on July 30, 1930, his grandfather and great-uncle Kyle Davis began the Davis Fuel Company. At the time, the main commodity was coal, to heat homes in Elmhurst.

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“It was there on the railroad, which was a great location,” John said. “You could get the coal there easy enough.”

But as homes converted to fuel oil, coal was no longer needed and the Davis Fuel Company had to make a change.

“When coal went out of style, they bought big fuel tanks and fuel trucks and started delivering fuel oil,” John said. “They were adapting.”

Then, fuel oil went out of style, too. Bert A. Davis, who is now 84 years old, remembers that in order to stay viable, the business had to change yet again.

“We were pretty diversified,” said Bert, as he pored through old photos of the business. “We built a car wash building, and we sold gasoline and washed cars.”

All through his growing-up years, John Davis remembers working right alongside his father and uncle.

“There were some crusty old characters that worked there, driving the trucks, shoveling coal,” John said. “As a kid, it was interesting for me to be around those guys. They always smelled like oil and fuel and wore dirty clothes. And they were gruff old guys, but they were pretty nice to the kids. I can remember a bunch of them. I’m sure they’re all gone now, but they were characters.”

John turned to his uncle.

“When I was 11, I would clean for you guys,” he reminded him.

By the time he was a high school student in the 1970s, John was working at the car wash.

“There weren’t too many high school students that didn’t work there drying cars at one time or another,” he said. “I was pumping gas, drying cars, spraying off the dirt from the time I was about 16 years old.

“I learned a lot of basic things,” he continued. “The value of hard work, customer service. It took a lot of dedication to serve the customers.”

Elmhurst Businesses Through the Generations

John said there must be something in the blood of the Davis family that leads them to start their own businesses.

“We don’t like to have bosses, I guess,” he said, jokingly. “It’s genetic or something.”

John’s recent family research led him on a road trip to New Hampshire, where he discovered even some of his ancestors had run a business—a shoe manufacturing business in the 1800s.

John has owned , an investment advisory and financial planning firm, since 1992. But this year, the four children of the late Jack Davis decided to go into business together and keep up the tradition of family businesses in Elmhurst. They opened Tail Gate, a boarding, grooming and doggie daycare facility, in July. John and his three siblings, Jeff Davis, Margaret Stenftenagel and Leslie Stipe, their spouses, their cousin Doug Peterson and his wife, Cindy, all co-own the business, with Jeff as facility manager.

John came up with the idea for starting a dog daycare when his son worked in a similar facility in another suburb.

“I thought it was so cool because the dogs were free to play and socialize during the day with each other,” he said. “Our family has always had dogs, so we’re very interested in them.”

And, the Davis family business still adheres to the idea that the customer always comes first, even if it means a call in the middle of the night. Like so many years ago, when customers knew they could call when their coal or fuel oil ran low, Tail Gate customers can call in the wee hours, too.

“All our literature has [my brother Jeff’s] cell phone number as an emergency number,” John said. “We’re always available.”

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