Images: Gator Cases
The equipment church designers, AV consultants, and even those in a church’s choir utilize is expensive and fragile, so keeping it protected while in transit and storage is essential. Still, a lot of the cases and coverings being used today just don’t do the job, and things get banged up, chipped, and even damaged to the point where they are unusable.
All Gator Cases are made from vacuum-formed plastics, rotational-molded plastics, wood, sewn, and EVA materials.
That’s where Gator comes in. The company, founded by the father-daughter team of Jerry Freed and Crystal Morris as Gator Cases in Tampa, Florida, back in 2020, started by selling molded plastic guitar cases, but have since expanded to a product line that includes more than 1,000 different protective case and bag solutions for pro audio, IT, audio visual, general utility, band instrument, and percussion.
Today, Gator has a well-established catalog to serve many needs, especially the church market, with multiple brands–Gator Cases, Gator Frameworks, and Gator Rackworks to name a few.
Gator Co.
Gator Rackworks metal racks for studios
“From the very beginning, it has been our goal to provide innovative solutions with great quality and reasonable pricing,” says Rob McCoy, Gator Cases’ product management director. “We started with instrument cases and gig bags and had great success and feedback from our customers. We had the experience and capabilities to expand our expertise into other categories and added system integration racks, microphone stands and most recently a great line of studio furniture.”
Filling Needs for the Church Space
Gator offers numerous products that church designers and AV consultants can utilize, as well as church leadership, to store and transport items that enhance the church.
This includes its newest line of Gator Frameworks furniture-grade guitar hangers for the performance stage, and installation racks that can house components for security systems, PA systems, or network integration.
For example, the front of house mixer is something that needs to be protected.
“In most houses of worship, this controls the audio for the speaking and performance portions of a service,” McCoy says. “If the mixer is a ‘fixed’ piece of gear, then our stretchy dust covers are a solution to keep the mixer clean and help it last longer. If it is not fixed and more protection is needed, then one of our many mixer cases would be great to easily pack up the mixer and load [it] into a van or simply transport the mixer to a storage closet until the next service.”
Gator G-Tour mixer case
Then there are the company’s racks, which are ideal for the front of house outboard gear.
“With touring-grade racks and furniture-grade racks, we have so much to choose from depending on your application,” McCoy says. “They can hold wireless systems, sound processors, and video gear. Cases for microphone storage are also handy as a church with many performances can easily have 10-15 microphones to keep safe.”
Gator also has an enormous offering of products that are used in mobile church scenarios.
“Mobile churches use many of our racks and stands to help make their service compact and easy to move from town to town, or simply store out of the way when not in use,” McCoy says.
A Unique Design
All Gator Cases are made from vacuum-formed plastics, rotational-molded plastics, wood, sewn, and EVA materials.
“Our cases are designed with input from our customers,” McCoy says. “It’s our job to exceed their needs. We always make sure that our version of a case or stand really solves problems that our customers are having.”
For instance, the company’s Wireless System Bag (GM-1W) was designed after speaking to a traveling pastor who wanted to carry his wireless system from place to place in a lightweight carry case, knowing it still needed to function with the receiver in the case.
“Based on his needs, we designed a number of solutions to accommodate different levels of protection from lightweight case to military-grade polyethylene plastic for more abusive situations,” McCoy says. “Our customers are the key to our success in making sure our products have something unique and valuable to take care of their needs.”
These kinds of talks happen a lot, and many of the company’s best product ideas come from the conversations it has with customers, finding the solutions they need.
A Strong Value Proposition
Protecting equipment and gear isn’t always top of mind for a lot of those working in churches, and many only think about better cases when it’s too late.
“In most house of worship applications, there is a need to protect the gear, but there is also a budget to adhere to, and our offering makes that possible,” McCoy says. “We offer the highest-quality product at a great price that you can rely on. We hear that feedback very often from customers. Our customers trust us with their valuable gear and equipment.”
Depending on the case and its use, Gator Cases' products can last for a range of years.
“We have customers who say they’ve had the same case for 20 years,” McCoy says. “Our warranty program is great, and our customer service team is outstanding. So in the event that something unfortunate does happen, we are happy to take care of them.”
After a tough couple of years for churches, Gator is thrilled to support their needs with the large number of products that can help them.
“Many of them had to evolve to virtual, mobile or outdoor services,” McCoy says. “We’re excited to be in this space—there are a lot of great opportunities ahead.”
