Skyway Tool Center is located in Chico, California and has been in business since 1986. Do you know of a family-owned tool store located in the United States? If so, we would be happy to write about it on ToolsBlog.com. In this article we will tell you about the history of the Skyway Tool Center business.

Doug Gillis and Will Dvorak had been friends for a number of years in Oroville, California. Doug worked at Pacific Coast Producers, a canning plant, and Will had been selling tools at flea markets in the area, when Will came up with an idea. He said the two friends should start a tool store in Paradise, California, because the guy who had the tool store in Paradise, known as “Starvin’ Marvin,” had retired and now there was no place to buy tools in Paradise. Doug agreed, so each of them ponied up about five thousand dollars and they rented the same spot Marvin had vacated months before and began buying tools for inventory. They began selling in December, 1986, and their customers were the contractors, mechanics and other tool users in the area.

After three weeks in business, Will approached Doug one day after work and asked him how he liked the tool business. Doug said he loved it and felt great about coming to work every day, then he asked Will how he liked it. Will said he hated being in the store and had not realized how confined he would feel being inside all day. Doug asked him what he wanted to do and Will said he didn’t want to have to come to work the next day! The two friends made an agreement and Doug bought out Will and assumed control of the business, which was originally called “Skyway Tools.”

Doug Gillis really did enjoy working in the tool store. He had always been shy and quiet, feeling uncomfortable around people he didn’t know, but in the tool store it was different, because he knew enough about the tools to help the customers. If he didn’t know the answer, he would find out. He also learned a tremendous amount from the tool customers, because there were a lot of older guys in Paradise, which was a retirement area. The longer he worked behind the counter of the store, the more he liked it and the more he liked the customers. Every day brought new people and new challenges, so it stayed interesting. The business really took hold and grew, so within two years he needed to move into a larger location.

In 1989 Gillis moved into a 2500 sq ft building directly across the street and expanded the business. He had a big party out in the parking lot with live music and had a grand opening. He built a wall across the rear portion of the store because he didn’t have that much inventory and he could use the back area for an office. A few months later he met his future wife, Sherry, and she began helping him with the books at the store. The business had really grown and it had become difficult for Doug to keep up with the billing, accounts payable and receivable and other paperwork details, so Sherry took that over and computerized the books. They decided to start selling Ryobi Power Tools and needed to make room for the new inventory, so they tore down the original wall across the rear of the store and built a small office, leaving the maximum amount of room possible for the inventory. The sales went crazy and after a few years of struggling to make ends meet, they were doing quite well by 1992. In 1993 they decided to open a second location in Chico, eventually closing the original location and putting everything under one roof. In 1995 Sherry started SkywayTools.com to sell automotive specialty tools online. As daughter, Suzanne, grew up she learned about working the store and became the bookkeeper from 2001 until 2008.

In 2003 the couple purchased property at the corner of the Skyway, a main artery in Chico, and Bruce Road, and erected a 6500 sq ft tool store that opened in 2005. Once more the Gillis Family had a grand opening and hundreds of friends, relatives and customers celebrated this expansion of the business. Since then, daughter Suzanne married and changed jobs to an outside company and the recession brought more changes to the business.

Today Skyway Tool Center is thriving by selling new and used tools, recycled containers, and selling automotive specialty tools online worldwide. Owners Doug and Sherry Gillis have spent a good deal of their lives providing the right tool solution to mechanics, contractors, farmers, hobbyists and homeowners. They love having their store and welcome the challenges in competing in this challenging market.