Bearing Service

Even some loyal employees questioned whether brothers Scott Harkey and Danny Goode could sustain Bearing Service & Supply after their father and company founder died of cancer in 1992.

After all, the brothers had completely different personalities. And they had big shoes to fill. Their father, John Harkey, was known as a phenomenal salesman who grew the business from three employees in a tiny shop to today's large warehouse, branches in five other cities and a total of 80 employees.

But the gears are still in motion at the North Market Street company, which marks its 33rd year in business this year. Sales have topped $15 million and have increased 15 to 20 percent each year the brothers have run the company. The company sells and services not only bearings- from small ones on roller skates to huge ones for heavy industry-but a diverse array of power transmission and fluid power components.

Fortunately, the brothers took over at the company just as Shreveport's economy was turning around. "When Dad got sick, it was the toughest year of existence from an emotional standpoint. From a monetary standpoint, it was a turning point for the marketplace, and it was just a lot easier to overcome our differences when you're making money than when the market is in a downturn," Harkey said.

The late John Harkey moved to Shreveport in 1968 from Irving, Texas to turn around a troubled local bearing outfit. Less than a year later, the local branch was making money, but Harkey declined an offer to return to Irving. Instead, he decided to stay in Shreveport to run a bearing store for a local compressor company. He later bought out the bearing inventory and set up his own business. It was a humble beginning at 431 North Market, where Harkey set up an office in a back corner with a five-gallon oil drum as the only chair for guests and employee prospects to sit on.

"Dad was a phenomenal salesman. He had the ability to compromise in situations where others would have lost the business," Harkey said. "He also had an uncanny way of finding the hard-to-find. That ability extended not only to bearings, sprockets, and the like, but to almost anything."

Bearing Service breaks up its business into two divisions: bearings and power transmission, including gearboxes, belts, chains, and sprockets; and fluid power, including hoses, cylinders, motors, and pumps. The company is also well-known for its depth of inventory. The company has built its reputation for stocking just about anything, and refusing few repair jobs.