Small Town News

Made in Willcox

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Hot trailers made by Jim-Glo are in demand; featured in Street Rodder

A family-owned business in Willcox is gaining national recognition for the quality of its product.

Jimmy and Gloria Norris, who have lived in Willcox nearly 40 years, opened their business, Jim-Glo Trailers, in 1988.

That business has garnered an eight-page layout in the November issue of "Street Rodder" magazine.

The couple moved to Willcox Jan. 1, 1971.

"It was snowing," explains Gloria, adding, "They told us it never snows here, and it was snowing."

Since moving here, they have owned a hog farm; operated a feed store; had a cattle ranch; owned a body shop; and manufactured steel buildings," which we sold through JB's Buildings," Jimmy said.

Then, in 1988, Jimmy built his first "tilt-bed" trailer for his own drag (racing) car; drawing interest from fellow car enthusiasts.

"Different people saw them at the drag races," and from there he received a couple of offers.

"The trailer business started taking off," said Jimmy.

"We had to sell the steel building business."

Jim-Glo builds a couple of styles of trailers - the open tilt-bed and the enclosed trailer.

"Nobody built a tilt-bed trailer - not like this one," added Gloria.

"Jimmy designs everything in our shop."

"Some people do build one, but (the exit door) is never in the right place," said Gloria, referring to one of the three significant, industry-leading talking points of their products.

They are composite material for the box and the aircraft-grade aluminum frame.

The third - and possibly the single biggest plus according to the Norris' -is the "easy exit" on the driver's side, which allows no-hassle entrance and exit to and from the trailer.

Jim-Glo is the only trailer manufacturer to offer this.

"Our trailers are the most innovative in the industry," said Jimmy.

"Trailers were, are, and always will be an integral part of rodding," the magazine article begins.

"Trailers have evolved into an indispensable part of our rodding life. To the hands-on rodder, a trailer becomes a useful tool that when used properly becomes a problem solver..."

"We build for the real low hot rod cars," Jimmy explains. "We cater to the street hot rodder."

Asked what makes their business successful, even in economic hard times, Gloria said,

"We are the only one who does this. We have a specialized market."

"The people who buy our trailers have cars that sell for $300,000 or $400,000," he adds.

They also choose to build quality over quantity

"We make about 120 trailers per year;" said Jimmy, adding, "We hope to get up to about 400 per year."

Their marketing firm tells the Norris's that people normally visit a website for about 35 seconds, but their visitors "are staying on the website about five minutes."

"There are three videos; a lot to read; and a lot to see," said son Tim Norris.

A 1993 Willcox High School graduate, Tim went on to earn a business degree from Arizona State University in 1997.

Though he lives in Phoenix and works for U.S. Airways there, Tim does the company's marketing, helping his family out twice a week at the Willcox location.

"He's been a big help - he got all our stuff online," said Jimmy. "He does all the things I don't like to do. Our website's real good."

"My real job here is marketing our company," Tim said. "Getting it out there so that people can find it."

The other Norris kids, Tammy, Jennifer and Nathan grew up working in their parents' shop.

Love of all things "cars" runs deep in. the Norris family - Jimmy and Gloria met due to the cars they both owned.

They attended the same Texas high school, but didn't date in high school - he was in the class of 1965 and she was in the class of 1963, Jimmy explains.

At that time, Jimmy owned a 1959 Chevy Impala and Gloria had a 1960 Chevy Impala - both of them black.

They got to talking about their cars, and Jimmy asked her, "Do you want to go to a show (movie)?"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Jimmy had taken welding during his Ag classes while in high school and went to General Motor's body school after graduation.

Jim-Glo currently has six people working in the shop - "not counting us three," Jimmy said. "I think this (the magazine article) will triple our business," Jimmy said.

"Up until now, we've" been focusing on Texas and the West Coast."

"Eighty percent of our stuff is in California," said Jimmy, with Gloria adding, "Texas is coming up right behind them."

After the article was published, the Norris' sold a trailer last Thursday to someone in Boston.

In addition to Massachusetts, they have had inquiries from people in Texas, Colorado,

Louisiana, New York, and New Jersey.

It began in January this year, when he was at a car show in California and someone from Source Interlink Media, which publishes Street Rodder Magazine and 16 other publications, bought three Jim-Glo trailers and then called back in March wanting to do an article.

"This magazine is giving us national recognition," Jimmy said.

Talking about Jim-Glo, Kathy Smith, director of the Willcox Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture says, "We talk about what Willcox doesn't have, but so often we forget what we do have - right here in rural Arizona."

"That's right - right here in rural Arizona we have one of the most esteemed trailer manufacturers in the country," she said.

"I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jim, Gloria, and Tim on their passion for cars and trailers, and to thank them for choosing Willcox as their headquarters," Smith said recently.

"To receive this kind of exposure from a magazine of this caliber is priceless," she said.

"We've been fortunate - the Lord has blessed us," Gloria told the Range News.

Nobody built a tilt-bed trailer-not like this one. Jimmy designs everything in our shop.



Copyright 2010 Arizona Range News, Willcox, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Arizona Range News Willcox, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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