Right after Clair Brothers moved into its new but not quite finished Manheim building, a delivery truck driver pulled in.
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Company executive David Deibler was surprised the driver found the business, since Clair Brothers had yet to place its name on the building.
But the company had put up a clue — 20-foot driveway lightpoles made out of aluminum theatrical trusses.
"Yeah, I knew it was Clair Brothers right away when I saw the aluminum trusses," the driver said, "because it's exactly what you guys do."
Clair Brothers was hoping its new home would create that impression.
The firm, which designs, makes, sells and installs audio, video and lighting systems, wants the $4.9 million facility to symbolize and showcase its skills, as well as provide room for growth.
VIDEO: Inside Clair Brothers Clair Brothers had none of that in the Lititz building it shared with Clair Global, a related but separate and larger company that rents audio systems and technicians to touring rock, pop and country groups.
In Lititz, Clair Brothers had 20,000 square feet in which to design and make its systems, which are sold to theaters, houses of worship, stadiums, cruise ships, television studios, schools and nightclubs.
"We ran out of space. We were bursting at the seams," said Deibler.
By relocating its 39 employees in February to South Oak Street and Clair Boulevard, Clair Brothers solved that problem.
The four-mile move put it in a 50,000-square-foot structure that can be doubled.
Not only that, the building has numerous product-demonstration areas, underscoring the sales orientation of Clair Brothers, which contrasts with the rental mission of Clair Global.
"One of our goals with this building was to create a customer-friendly facility," said Deibler, corporate operations officer.
"Time and again, as we went through the (design) process, we tried to keep in mind, 'How would this look to a customer?' We wanted to have something where we can show the customer this is how we do it."
There will be plenty of chances now, starting as soon as a customer walks in the front door.
Clair Brothers plans to give its building lobby a theatrical look by installing stage curtains, stage lighting and speakers.
Immediately down the hall, two large windows let visitors look into the building's communications room, containing racks of computer servers, network equipment, audio equipment and other gear.
This allows customers to see Clair Brothers' rack-building capabilities and precise, neat cabling, which have proven to be big selling points.
As visitors proceed down the hall, their path is illuminated by different types of stage lighting, displaying the choices available to them.
Around the corner, Clair Brothers will construct a state-of-the-art conference room, for its own use and for demonstrations.
It will incorporate the firm's specialized audio, video and lighting systems that are tailored for that use. They'll be run from an adjoining control room, which visitors can look into through two more windows.
The largest demonstration area fills a corner of the building's warehouse, shipping and receiving section.
There, line-array speakers are suspended from trusses, along with lighting and video gear.
"A customer can sit back and listen to what we're proposing for their particular installation," said Deibler.
Of course, Clair Brothers does more in the new building than show its systems in action. It designs, makes, tests and ships them from there as well.
Despite the recession, the firm remains busy, selling and installing about 300 systems a year.
Sales have increased 25 percent over the past five years, said Deibler, although the privately held firm does not disclose dollar figures.
"I think this building is a testament to where we're at...," said Larry Howard, director of business development.
"We see a very bright future and a lot of growth for our Manheim location," Howard added.
Another positive indicator came earlier this year with the opening of its fourth sales office, in Chicago, bringing its nationwide workforce to 51.
Roy Clair, an owner of the firm, cited one more cause for optimism — a new, patented kind of speaker that's in development.
"We don't want to be a 'me too' company. We've never been. If we can't do something different, I'd be shocked," said Clair.
"We're doing fine now. But when we come up with this unique (system), that's when we feel sales will take off," he added.
Clair Brothers is headed by president Barry Clair, Roy's son. It began 20 years ago as a spinoff of the older concert-tour audio business, to give employees something to do when they came off the road.
That original business, what's now called Clair Global, got its start in 1966 when Roy Clair and his brother Gene provided the sound for a Four Seasons concert at Franklin & Marshall College.
Staff writer Tim Mekeel can be reached at tmekeel@LNPnews.com or 481-6030.
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