In the 1970's Gordon Gerbing owned a small machine shop just south of Seattle that primarily produced parts for Boeing airplanes. Several of his employees rode motorcycles to work all year, even through the Seattle winter chill and dampness. Gordon noticed the discomfort of these employees when they arrived at work after a cold morning's winter ride. His goal? Look for a way to keep these riders warm. His answer? Wire motorcycle clothing with heating pads and connect the pads to the bike's electrical system.
In 1976 Gordon founded Gerbing's Heated Clothing, Inc. For the first 10 years of the business Gordon spent more time running his machine shop, but slowly the demand and interest in his heated clothing began to grow. Finally, in the late 1980's Gordon's "hobby" became his full-time passion. He and his wife Marilyn sold the machine shop and moved to Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Here Gordon and son Jeff by themselves literally built the first building for Gerbing's Heated Clothing.
As time went on, more and more riders realized that they could ride warm and comfortable on even the coldest, windiest and rainiest days. Much of the growth of the company in the early 1990's resulted from Gordon tirelessly doing the summer and winter motorcycle show and rally circuits, showing customers first hand the benefits of heated clothing. One of Gordon's most effective displays was to hook up his heated gloves to a common automobile battery charger. That way customers could directly feel the inviting warmth. The result was sale after sale and many, many satisfied customers. Some customers would walk by Gordon's booth during the following years at a particular rally and enthusiastically announce to everyone within range how happy they were with their heated clothing, and how much Gordon cared about making sure each of his customers was personally satisfied.
As more and more people learned of the benefits of heated clothing, the Gerbing's business continued to grow. Plus, the electrical output of the typical motorcycle continued to increase as motorcycle engineers addressed the growing demand for electrical accessories. The result is that all but the smallest bikes can now provide the power needed to generate the needed heat.
The year 1999 marked another stage of growth when the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company selected Gerbing's to be the sole supplier of Harley-Davidson label heated clothing. Another milestone is the beginning of the authorized motorcycle dealers program in August of 2001. Only top-quality, respected dealers who provide high levels of service for their customers are selected into this program. The result is that Gerbing's customers have more options than ever for staying warm.
In the fall of 2011 Gerbings moved into a brand new 88,000 sq ft facility located in Stoneville, NC. Everyone is happy to be working in such a nice facility that will allow us manufacture products here in America, grow and take care of customers even better.
Through all the growth, our emphasis on quality and service has remained. Gordon and Marilyn still spend much of their day at Gerbing's. Gordon's son Jeff and Grandson, Tyler both work at the company and play their part to help maintain Gordon’s original vision. A vision to provide innovative, high quality products at a fair price that genuinely improves the lives of our customers. And, in the end, that is just plain fun.
Recently the company was acquired by McCarthy Capital's Fund V and Tom Nolan who currently serves as the President & CEO. This move has served to be a great one for the company and all its customers. We will always keep our customers first and maintain our high level of quality and excellence in everything we do. We're not always perfect, but we won't settle until we are. We thank you all for your support and trust in us.
Open House Thursday May 16th through Saturday May 18th! more »
Prospect Brands acquires Gerbing's Heated Clothing, Inc. more »
