It’s a familiar sight in a Central Oregon winter: ski season bringing a cavalcade of vehicles, topped by cargo boxes, to Mt. Bachelor.

For Baron Braatz, operations manager of fiberglass cargo box maker Packasport, these vehicles tell him valuable information about his and competitors’ products.

“Bend is where we do most anything with Packasport besides the physical manufacturing — all the research,” he said. “When we decided to go to a shorter roof-line box, my decision was made looking around parking lots at (Mt.) Bachelor. Looking at the different types of cars — what types of cars are people driving to the mountains?”

Packasport, which will display its cargo boxes this weekend at Mt. Bachelor, was headquartered in Bend from 1993 to 2006 before moving its corporate offices and manufacturing to the Eugene area.

The company’s products earned accolades in the 1990s, appearing in the “What’s New” column of the May 1993 issue of Popular Mechanics, and it enjoyed popularity for producing cargo boxes in many different colors.

“It’s the only (cargo box) you can paint,” said Truman Taylor of Hutch’s Rack-N-Roll in Bend, which sold Packasport boxes in the mid-1990s. “Skiers loved that.”

Keeping a low profile

Over the past few years, difficult economic conditions have forced Packasport to keep a low profile.

“Between 2003 and today, it was definitely lacking,” Alisha Braatz said, referring to the company’s profile.

Alisha and Baron, married four years ago, oversee the day-to-day operations of Packasport. Baron’s father, Ron Braatz, bought the company in 1993 and maintains primary ownership under an umbrella company.

“We were looking for a diversification of industries from construction,” Ron Braatz told The Bulletin in 1999. “I thought it was a neat product.”

Packasport continues to test its products in Bend, using the cargo boxes for trips to Mt. Bachelor or elsewhere. While the company does not own or lease any kind of commercial space in Central Oregon, Ron Braatz’s 40-acre farm east of Bend serves as Packasport’s unofficial base camp in the region. Baron and Alisha Braatz also own a second home in Bend.

“Most of our products have been out quite a while; we haven’t changed them too much,” Baron Braatz said.

Shifting the business

Since Ron Braatz bought Packasport, the company has undergone several shifts in its business practices.

In 1995, the company moved its manufacturing from Bend to Maslin, Ohio. Four years later, Ron Braatz built an 8,000-square-foot office-hangar at Bend Municipal Airport to consolidate the accounting office with the Bend sales office, according to The Bulletin’s archives.

When Packasport moved its corporate offices to Eugene, it hired Tom Smith Manufacturing of Goshen to make the cargo boxes.

In October, Packasport revitalized its company website with an e-commerce platform, allowing customers to buy the product directly.

In the 1990s, most of Packasport’s sales occurred at retail outlets such as Hutch’s Rack-N-Roll. Now, Baron Braatz estimates that “90 percent” of the company’s sales are direct sales.

The Braatz family even explored selling the company in 2003, entering what Baron Braatz terms a “licensing agreement” with Beaverton-based Yakima that would have enabled the rival cargo box manufacturer to purchase Packasport.

“That was a short-lived thing,” Baron Braatz said. “We’re the sole owners of the company, and we’re not looking at selling it or anything like that right now.”

A phone call to Yakima requesting comment was not returned.

Sleek, but heavy

With its fiberglass cargo boxes equipped with a carpeted interior lining and the customer’s choice of paint color, which costs an extra $300 to $400, Packasport bills its products as “the most durable, highly engineered and attractive rooftop storage system on the market,” per the company’s website.

A 1996 Forbes buying guide called Packasport’s cargo boxes advanced and beautiful, referring to its missle-sleek design that nearly eliminated noise and wind resistance. The authors of the 1999 book “Backroad Adventuring in Your Sport Utility Vehicle” said it was the best-quality enclosed carrier.

Today, however, its cargo boxes stand in contrast to the plastic models made by Sweden’s Thule and Yakima, the industry leaders. Other brands such as Aerosport and Packline have entered the market for fiberglass cargo boxes as well.

Packasport’s fiberglass boxes weigh between 50 and 79 pounds. Thule’s heaviest available cargo box model, the Atlantis 2100, weighs 59 pounds, according to sales materials. Yakima’s SkyBox Pro 21 Titanium model weighs 62 pounds, the heaviest listed on its website.

“In my opinion, if they want to remain competitive, (the box) needs to be much lighter-weight,” said Taylor of Hutch’s Rack-N-Roll, referring to Packasport. “It was very difficult to sell those. People would come in and see how heavy it is. The fiberglass eats up a lot of weight if you’re carrying a lot of skis.”

Stiff competition

Thule and Yakima boxes typically cost between $300 and $900, depending on size. A Packasport model costs between $899 and $1,099, positioned as a higher-end option in the market. When the global economy soured, however, higher-end products suffered along with it.

Baron Braatz said 2008 was the worst sales year on record since the Braatz family purchased the company. Packasport declined to say how many cargo boxes it sells in a given year.

“It’s never been out of business,” Baron Braatz said of the company. “There were some times when our sales went pretty low because of the cost of manufacturing our product. A lot of retailers couldn’t make their margins.”

Taylor notes that, in better times, cargo boxes “sell themselves,” as prospective buyers actively seek information. He said he has convinced customers of their value by pointing to the parking lot for Ace Hardware, Safeway and other businesses on Third Street across from the Rack-N-Roll shop; inevitably, a couple of boxes will stand out from on top of cars.

“(In Bend) you can walk on ’em,” he said.

Looking ahead

Within these friendly environs, Packasport hopes to kick off a banner 2012 on Mt. Bachelor.

The company is introducing a new product, the 71ss, designed for crossover SUVs, at the Nevado Mountain Adventures product demonstration at Mt. Bachelor on Saturday and Sunday.

“People are absolutely still looking for us and purchasing the units,” Alisha Braatz said. “When people found out we were doing a crossover (box) — we haven’t even come up with the final model yet, and people are already purchasing them.”

Additionally, Packasport has teamed up with Portland artist Matthew Zu for a Graphics Box, a cargo box painted with a unique design.

In crowded parking lots, the box figures stand out.

Learn more

Packasport plans to take part in the Nevado Mountain Adventures product demonstration on Saturday and Sunday at Mt. Bachelor ski area, or visit www.pack asport.com/