Dixie Chopper Continues Rebuilding Process

Nine months after being acquired by Jacobsen Textron, Dixie Chopper focuses on rounding out both its product line and customer care staff.

Since its acquisition by Jacobsen back in February, Dixie Chopper says it has been making significant investments in its products and people. In addition to several new products being added to the company’s portfolio, Dixie Chopper is also hiring on all sides of the business.

Last month, Dixie Chopper launched its 2015 product lineup at the GIE+EXPO in Louisville, KY. In addition to all-new products like the 2015 Pursuit walk-behind and Stryker stand-on, several upgrades and enhancements were made to the company’s legendary Classic and XCaliber series zero-turn mowers. Currently, Dixie Chopper offers eight different mowers with various residential, light commercial, commercial, and industrial models serving over 300 dealers across the United States.

“With the addition of the Pursuit walk-behinds and Stryker stand-on series, Dixie Chopper now has a full portfolio of mowing products to fulfill the needs of both residential consumers or commercial cutters,” said Wes Evans, director of customer care and son of Art Evans, who founded Dixie Chopper nearly 35 years ago. “These new products are allowing us to move into new markets and we expect the business to grow rapidly over the next several years. In the 25-plus years I’ve been with this business, I’ve never seen so much excitement from our employees, dealers or customers.”

To prepare for the rapid growth, Dixie Chopper is currently adding staff across the company’s departments, especially in the customer-facing areas of sales, marketing and customer care. “We will continue to invest in our two most valuable assets: our products and our people,” said Chris Vernon, new vice president and general manager of Dixie Chopper. “This is a very exciting time at Dixie Chopper and with the full support of Jacobsen and Textron behind us, 2015 is shaping up to be an excellent year for Dixie Chopper.”

Are dealers feeling the love?

Thus far, several dealers are feeling pretty good about their decision to stick with Dixie Chopper through the ownership transition. Dealers are reporting a marked improvement in parts fullfillment, which is essential to building brand credibility among professional users, not to mention everyday homeowners. Additionally, dealers are liking the expanded product offering from Dixie, and are now just hoping they'll be able to get the inventory they need when they need it. Thus, as the 2015 mowing season draws closer, Dixie Chopper servicing dealers will quickly learn if the turnaround is for real. They're a lot more optimistic than they were this time last year, that's for sure.

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