The XPB Story

So, if you're here, on this website, there's a pretty good chance you know who we are and what we do. BUT, did you know that XtraPower Batteries was actually founded all the way back in 2002? That's right, as of writing this post, we've been in the battery business for over 15 years! That's quite a milestone in such an ever-changing market. So, for all of you out there who might be curious about how it all started and where it's going, I made a little write-up you might enjoy.

The founder of XtraPower Batteries, Frederick Gustavsson, worked for the largest battery distributors in North America for over 5 years, and he learned the battery trade quickly, managing to move up from a warehouse clerk to managing director of the northeastern operations in a very short span of time. In 2002 he moved to Montreal t to be with his fiancé and during this time, started his own battery business. The first two years were a real struggle for Fred as he invested 40,000 dollars that he had saved up on top of maxing out his credit, to start up the battery reconditioning business. He went three months without generating a single sale and almost had to give up. His first sale was to Yale Industrial Trucks of Montreal, and that one sale allowed him to pay the rent that month. He worked with his former contacts and sales started coming in a little more regularly, allowing him to at least cover his overhead.

"I can remember not having enough money to hire anyone and having to load up a full truck load of racking and a gantry crane while my girlfriend waited in the car in the middle of a snow storm. It was probably the most trying day of my life."- Frederick Gustavsson

XtraPower was a one man operation for the first three years as Fred worked stoutly to prove that there was a market for reconditioned batteries. By the third year, Frederik had built a strong relationship with a battery company in the US, securing sales levels at about 5-8 batteries per month. This was sufficient for him to warrant hiring one of his best friends Marc-Andre Huras. Marc-Andre, a business graduate from the John Moslon School had recently left a start-up in the Food and Beverage industry so the timing couldn’t have been better for the two.

This being the fourth start-up that Marc-Andre worked with, he quickly recognized that from a sales and marketing perspective, the company was relatively non-existent. The first thing to do was to create a sales infrastructure that would be supported by all levels of marketing, from the company’s image to strategic planning and business development. Also, paramount was the importance of understanding the business and the product. Marc Andre spend the majority of his first 5 months in the 2000 sq ft warehouse washing and painting batteries, learning how to charge them and researching as much as he could about battery technology.

"It wasn’t exactly the most glamorous sales job, but I knew that coming in to this business and I was prepared to do what it took to learn the trade and support production to meet what little orders we had for on time delivery."- Marc Andre-Huras

The company landed a standing order from the largest forklift dealership in the country, and also dealerships all across eastern Canada and the US started calling regularly to place orders.

The company presently employs a staff of up to 12, and moved from their original 3,000 sq ft warehouse in Dorval to a 20,000 sq ft facility in Lachine just to keep up with demand.

The new location has an output capacity of roughly 200 batteries per month, and has allowed XtraPower to be the largest reconditioned battery supplier in North America.

 "Five years ago had you told me that my company would be the largest supplier of reconditioned batteries in North America, I probably would have laughed and told you I’d be happy simply paying the rent. Today, I am astounded at how well our staff has stepped up to the plate, but more importantly, I am really proud of the difference we make for the environment. "- Frederick Gustavsson, 2006

Since then, XtraPower Batteries has continued to grow, recently have branched out from just Reconditioned Batteries, to offer some of the best Brand New Batteries you can find on the market, as well as a large variety of battery accessories and peripherals. XtraPower has evolved from a one-man operation, to a team effort, and as a result, has managed to become the Global Leader in Reconditioned Batteries and Technologies. And that, my friends, is the XtraPower Story.