Company History
In 1978, Richard Glover and his daughter Barbara Mangum acquired the assets of what was then Piedmont Bobcat, a Melroe Bobcat dealer located between Raleigh and Cary, NC. In 1980, the business was relocated to a new building on Highway 70 between Raleigh and Durham, where it is still located. At that time the name was changed to Triangle Equipment Co.
In 1984, Steve Mangum came into the company as Vice-President and General Manager and took over most of the general sales operations. Barbara Mangum headed up the accounting and general operations. Mr. Glover remained active in the business until his death in 2001. At that time, Barbara Mangum became President and CEO of Triangle Equipment.
In 1986, with the Bobcat business growing, we expanded into Wilmington. After leasing a building for a short time we built our own building on Market Street. We have gone through several expansions to meet an ever-growing market. We are currently looking to relocate the business to Highway 421. into a new, larger, and modern facility.
During the late 80's, we had the realization that to survive in these competitive markets, we needed to make the change from a sales organization to a service organization. We made major changes in our parts and service departments. We air-conditioned our shop facilities, upgraded tools and equipment, providing our technicians with the most modern and comfortable facility we could have. Employee retention became a major goal. As a result, most of our Bobcat technicians have been with the company more than 10 years with the longest now at 19 years. We have Bobcat Sales Specialist that has been with the company as long as 27 years. This has allowed the Triangle Equipment Group to become one of the premier Bobcat service facilities in America.
The Triangle Equipment Group has continued to grow. Bobcat of Johnston County began operations in 1999 and Bobcat of Myrtle Beach in 2001. In 2006, we started the Triangle Operations Center to centralize all our accounting functions. The operations center is located above Bobcat of Johnston County in Garner. Brian Mangum, third generation, has joined the staff as Vice-President and is overseeing operations at Triangle.
Although we have continued to grow, we are still that family owned business where all the staff are treated like family. Our number one goal is to insure that we provide our customers with the highest level of support.