Dealership History

From SanLuisObispo.com

Father’s Day: Pair have worked side by side for nearly 20 years

Dynamic duo, part deux

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At Kitzman Culligan in Morro Bay, the father-and-son approach didn’t start with Arby and Rob — and they hope it doesn’t end there either

Arby Kitzman is used to calling his son “boss.” And his son, Rob, 40, is used to it, too.

“One time he asked me, ‘Mind if I go play golf on Wednesday?’ ’’ Rob Kitzman said.

The father-and-son team has worked together in their Morro Bay-based business for nearly two decades, after Arby Kitzman took over the business from his own father, Bryant Kitzman.

They’ve kept Kitzman Culligan, a water purification company, in the family for three generations.

An early start

While in his 20s, Arby, now 66, got his first dose of working for his father.

After graduating from Paso Robles High School in 1958, Arby followed his high school sweetheart, Jeannie, to San

Jose, where she was attending college. He graduated from San Jose City College before moving back to Morro Bay.

His mother and father, Bryant and Jeannie Kitzman, ran daily operations in a small, blue-and-white office building off Main Street.

Fresh out of college, Arby didn’t know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. After a stint in the Coast Guard Reserve, he found his way back to the business. He then began making local deliveries and setting up water tanks for his dad’s customers.

Working in the family business was his best option, he recalled. “(It was) that or working in Saudi Arabia in the oil fields,” he said, only half kidding.

He came to work every day, making his best effort as a young businessman and learning lessons about entrepreneurship from his father.

“I wanted my dad to be proud of what I did,” he said. “I was always concerned with doing the right thing and pleasing him.”

Arby can’t recall the two of them ever arguing while working together. “Hardly a day went by that I didn’t learn something from him,” he said.

And although Arby can’t remember the particular incident, he said he’ll never forget the feeling of the one time his father was disappointed in him.

“I’ll remember that till the day I die,” he said.

Taking over

After Bryant Kitzman died, Arby, then 24, didn’t think twice about continuing the business.

Although he was young and didn’t fully understand the business, his father’s lessons about customer loyalty resonated with him.

They never formally talked about keeping the business within the family; however, Arby said it was understood that he would take control. Customers called him “Bryant’s boy.”

Two years later, the Kitzmans’ first son, Rob, was born. Arby didn’t assume that Rob would take over the business, but most of Rob’s youth was spent at Kitzman Culligan.

When he was 8, Rob spent a summer running around the office. He remembered painting the building another summer and washing the trucks while his father handled daily operations.

“I’m sure I was completely worthless,” he said. “But I thought riding in the Culligan truck was so cool.”

Rob remembered the days his father came home from work, tired and wet. “He really made it super clear that taking care of the customer was important no matter where we worked or what we did,” Rob said.

Once, he asked his father if the delivery driver could drop him off at school in the truck. But the excitement faded as he got older.

After Rob graduated from high school, Arby asked him two or three times to work at the business —but to no avail.

“I was a little disappointed,” Arby said. “I never thought he’d come around, but then again there was that possibility.”

Rob had been looking at other career paths after graduating from Morro Bay High School. Finally, at 28, he decided to work with his father.

Working together almost mirrored the relationship Arby had with his father.

“Our strengths complement each other, and they were a nice complement to the business,” said Rob Kitzman, who bought the business from his father less than a year ago.

Like Arby, Rob recalled trying to please his boss.

“I don’t think I ever felt pushed,” he said. “But I didn’t want to let him down.”

Rob had a reputation to keep, not just for himself, but for his family. Now, he’ll bump into local customers at the beach, the gas station or downtown. He is proud to hear them call him “Arby’s boy” when he does.

Rob said he hopes his 10- and 12-year-old sons will spend summers at the business and take over some day.

“They already like riding in the big trucks,” he said.