When Ed Heacock first opened Heacock Welding Co. Inc. on San Fernando Road in Glendale, the city was a sleepy suburb of Los Angeles at the dawn of World War II.

Glendale has since become a city with the means of hosting international corporations such as Nestle Co. But Heacock Welding is still on San Fernando, and it’s still in the Heacock family.

It started out as a blacksmith shop for farmers in the surrounding communities, and became a welding shop that catered to the needs of construction companies and automotive customers. Eventually, the business of welding trailer hitches to cars turned Heacock into a horse-trailer manufacturer.

The company sells its trailers to equestrians around the country, though much of its business is in Southern California. Each trailer carries the Heacock name – a point of pride that Bruce Heacock, current owner and grandson of the late Ed Heacock, takes seriously.

“We put a lot of care into these things,” Bruce Heacock said recently as he stood in the company’s yard, surrounded by his namesake trailers. “My name is on the product, and I don’t want people calling and telling me they’ve got a problem.”

It’s a niche market that his company happened upon several years ago when Bruce Heacock bought some used horse trailers and fixed them up for resale. They sold so quickly that he bought some more. Soon, Bruce Heacock had designed his own line of trailers from scratch. They can carry from one to four horses and have garnered a reputation for reliability and craftsmanship.

As a result, Heacock Welding enjoys a following in local equestrian circles, said Howard Katz, publisher and editor of HorseWheels.net, an Internet publication that reviews horse trailers. While Heacock’s customer base is small and mostly local, it’s also loyal.

“For those people that use their trailers, they’re thought of very highly,” Katz said.

He added that Heacock’s trailers have some features that he hasn’t seen in other brands of trailers, such as a chest support bar that can be raised or lowered based on the height of the horse.

Struggling industry

Heacock’s loyal customers have helped keep the company afloat at a time when horse trailer companies are struggling. When the recession hit, it dried up much of the discretionary income that equestrians might have spent on attending shows or buying better equipment.

“Lots of people go to horse events with extra money that they don’t need to spend on food or rent or their mortgage,” Katz said. “When they lose their jobs, they’re not going to purchase a horse trailer. In fact, they’ll probably sell the trailer.”

The economic downturn has led to consolidation in the trailer industry. In April, Logan Coach Industries LLC in Logan, Utah, a major manufacturer of horse trailers, was foreclosed on by a lender and sold to Titan Trailer Manufacturing Inc. in Kingston, Okla. In June, Big Tex Trailer Manufacturing Inc. of Mount Pleasant, Texas, bought one of the largest trailer manufacturers, Circle J Trailers of Caldwell, Idaho.

Heacock has felt the recession’s effect. Bruce Heacock said he expects this year’s revenue to be between $1 million and $1.5 million, down from $2 million in better times. He’s relying more on general welding jobs – fixing an antique kitchen chair, for instance, or broken bikes – and trailer repairs. He’s also cut his team of welders in half, from about a dozen to six.

“It’s been a very slow year,” Bruce Heacock acknowledged. “People just aren’t buying new trailers.”

Ed Heacock started his blacksmith business in 1939 in a shack on San Fernando Road. It’s gone now: In its place is a gleaming new building of metal and glass that’s occupied by L.A. County workers. Bruce Heacock can see it down the street from the front gate of his current warehouse.

Ed Heacock’s son, Bob, learned to weld during World War II when he worked in the shipyards of Long Beach and San Pedro. When the war was over, Bob Heacock took over the business and later taught son Bruce the ropes. He also moved the business into its current spot.

Bruce Heacock didn’t plan on taking over the company. But when his dad suffered a heart attack in 1968, he filled in for a time. Later, after his dad retired, Bruce bought up more buildings, hired additional welders, and started designing general-purpose trailers for caterers and craftsmen. A lifelong equestrian, he harbored an interest in horse trailers and jumped into the market when he saw the opportunity.

Now, Heacock Welding occupies a half-block of brownstone warehouses packed with welding equipment, metal bars, axels and cast-off ties. It sits in a neighborhood in the industrial side of Glendale near the railroad tracks, in a block of low-slung auto body shops, commercial printing stores and dilapidated apartment buildings.

Bruce Heacock oversees his remaining six welders from an office in the corner of one warehouse. Pinned on the wall behind his desk are photos of Heacock trailers from around the country. There’s one from Alaska, one from Colorado, one from Washington state. Outside in the yard are a dozen trailers, though Bruce Heacock said a few years ago when the company was flush, it was packed with more than 30.

“It was so crowded you couldn’t even move around,” he said a little wistfully.

Heacock’s welders can customize trailers for any purposes, not just transporting horses. Bruce Heacock pointed out one trailer designed to carry Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and another built to transport a race car to tracks. The trailers can also be modified with added amenities, such as flat-screen TVs and leather couches, to the trailer interior for use as living quarters when on the road.

Bruce Heacock is now thinking about diversifying beyond trailers. Trying to capitalize on the surge in alternative energy companies, he’s weighing a move into manufacturing parts for wind turbines and solar panels.

Adapting to the market is part of Heacock’s legacy.

“My dad was a very enterprising guy, he saw needs and he filled them,” Bruce Heacock said. “I’m doing the same.”

Heacock Welding Co. Inc.

HEADQUARTERS: Glendale

FOUNDED: 1939

CORE BUSINESS: Builds, repairs and customizes horse trailers; general welding jobs

EMPLOYEES IN 2009: Six (down from 12)

GOAL: To remain a local leader in trailer repair and production, and develop a new business making parts for solar and wind companies

THE NUMBERS: Between $1 million and $1.5 million in revenue in 2009