Pincus Elevator Co.

by Matthew Pincus and Mike Hogan

Customer service, quality and reliability have been the hallmarks of Pincus Elevator Co., Inc. since 1953. Celebrating its 60th year, the Pennsylvania-based company provides services for maintenance, modernization, repairs and installation for all makes and models of commercial and residential elevators. It is an independent locally owned and operated business with membership in the National Association of Elevator Contractors. Something it has become known for is its FullCoverage System™, designed to help its customers develop a comprehensive and strategic maintenance plan to enhance their buildings’ elevator service.

History

In 1953, the company’s founder, Gerald Pincus, wanted to be his own boss. He bought a maintenance route in 1953 for US$200 and paid it off with US$10 per month. Pincus Elevator started by installing and maintaining elevators throughout Philadelphia, eventually expanding its territory to include eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. As business expanded, the company relocated to a new headquarters with an office, a shop and a warehouse in West Chester, Pennsylvania, this year (ELEVATOR WORLD, June 2013).

In 1985, Gerald Pincus’ son, Matthew Pincus, purchased the company and assumed the helm from his father. The younger Pincus helped instill the company’s mission to provide the best service at competitive pricing, and to do it safely. Starting with only two employees, he built Pincus Elevator into one of the largest independent elevator companies in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware markets. Despite the economic downturn of the past few years, the company has enjoyed its four best years of growth (2009-2012).

Services

Pincus Elevator feels its philosophy of offering customers what they want, along with its 24-hr. live call center, rapid-response team, safety-first program and nonproprietary equipment and services gives its customers an added comfort level when doing business. The company has provided comprehensive preventative maintenance since its inception and now offers its FullCoverage System for all makes and models – even obsolete equipment. It also serves the tri-state area with a modernization program, including a reverse-timeline project-management system. The company works with building owners, developers, property-management teams and general contractors in an approach it considers “untethered.” Jobs vary from cab interiors to complete system upgrades.

Several manufacturers, including Canton Elevator and Hollister-Whitney, supply the Pincus Elevator team. Its residential elevators are manufactured by Inclinator Co. of America, which has been in business since 1923. It offers hundreds of cab styles and finishes, two to five stops, various opening configurations, lifting heights up to 50 ft., numerous cab sizes and appointments, and other features.

Recent Projects

Pincus Elevator recently modernized the following buildings in Pennsylvania:

• Sedgwick Garden Apartments, Philadelphia
• F&M Building, West Chester
• Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Coatesville
• Cornerstone Apartments, Philadelphia

Additionally, the VA building in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, had the company install a third elevator between two existing traction elevators in a hallway space. Pincus Elevator equipped this hydraulic system with new controllers to group all three elevators to work together. Another project was a modernization job for Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that included the removal of the elevators, with the exception of three front entrances. Pincus Elevator installed a new elevator with a rear entrance to meet an Americans with Disabilities Act requirement. This work was completed during the college’s winter break over four weeks, as opposed to the typical nine weeks needed for such a job.