One of the first things you realize when you set foot in the offices of Bo Phillips on Lawrenceville Highway is that there isn’t actually anyone at the business named Bo Phillips.
“Bo Phillips was a gentleman from North Carolina who moved to Georgia and started a company in 1965,” explained company President John Craig. “His name was on all the signage and equipment, so when my father bought the company in 1979, we just kept the name.”
Since that transaction, the company has called Tucker home. It’s a unique business in that it manufactures road signage and then rents out signs, barricades and other roadway safety equipment to general contractors. Business has been so strong, Craig and his team are now in expansion mode.
“Atlanta’s been growing and we’ve just been lucky to grow with Atlanta,” Craig said. “We’ve outgrown this facility and now we’re expanding next door.”
Craig says the expansion is not a luxury, but a necessity. He needs the space for a bigger showroom, more equipment and to better accommodate his customer base.
“Tucker used to be the suburbs, but Tucker is like metro Atlanta now. So we have customers coming from all over and we want to make the experience better for them,” he shared.
At 85 years old, Craig’s father, also named John Craig, still serves as the company’s CEO. The younger Craig says it was his father’s advice that kept Bo Phillips here in Tucker through its expansion, rather than seeing the business move elsewhere in the metro area.
“He told me, ‘You don’t want to move away because you’re established and everybody knows where you are,’” Craig recalled.
The advice of the elder Craig is certainly good news for the City of Tucker as it will be home to the soon-to-be expanded Bo Phillips for years to come.
Bo Phillips is located at 3440 Lawrenceville Highway and is on the web at www.bophillips.com
