Christie Door Company really began under a different name, Arbie Stoll Doors, which began in 1952 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Arbie Stoll, an Oklahoma native and cabinet maker started selling and servicing WAGNER OVERHEAD DOORS and operators, which were manufactured on First St. in Cedar Falls. His home and shop were at 1319 Rainbow Drive, Cedar Falls. After 22 years in the business, Arbie decided that he had enough of Iowa winters, especially the cold fingers. He placed the business and his home up for sale in 1974.

My father, David L. Christie, was a long time local businessman. He and his wife Shirley had built the Christie Motel in North Cedar, beginning operations the day I was born in September, 1952. They sold the business and moved the family to the Los Angeles area in 1960, returning in 1962 to own and operate Lawn City Nursing Home at 601 West 12th St., Cedar Falls. The business closed in 1974 when the existing building became inadequate.

I was attending the University of Northern Iowa, and working at Display Sign Co., in Waterloo. In the summer of 1974, my father called and asked if I would join him in a new venture, an overhead door business he was considering buying. I said yes, and we started our new adventure. The extensive training we received consisted of two weeks from Arbie before he said adios and headed for the warm climes of Sun City, Arizona. So we were a classic case of learning by doing on the job, perhaps the best teaching method.

We sold Clopay Doors to begin with, they had purchased Wagner in 1965, and operated out of the newer Wagner plant on Wagner Road just north of old Hwy. 20, in Waterloo, Iowa. We would pick up doors on our pick up racks directly from the plant. We also sold Telectron garage door operators. Sadly, the quality of these products was lacking and we were always looking for better suppliers.

That opportunity came in 1977 when Raynor Door of Waterloo, a distributor of Raynor Garage Doors came up for sale. We felt as though we finally had a quality product we could proudly install. That change really helped us grow. Not only was the product superior but distributor support and training was also exemplary. We also loved their “OSR” policy, one source responsibility for their products.

About this time we made the name change to Christie Door Company and moved to a facility at 1410 Center St. in Cedar Falls, allowing us to further expand into a larger building. Growth came by tackling larger commercial, industrial, and agricultural jobs in addition to our residential customers.

After fighting the Cedar River floods at our Center St. facility for years we were able to relocate to 1905 State St., in 2005. The extra square footage in an always dry shop was another growth promoter.

Raynor’s quality was never a question, but their flexibility limited our growth. IN 1995 we added CHI Overhead Doors because their customer service was second to none and they brought a wider variety of products that Raynor couldn’t provide.

In 2008, CDC saw the need for higher R-value polyurethane doors. HAAS Door was brought on to again increase the offering. Their high quality doors and large selection of panel designs and color. These three manufactures really set up Christie Door in a unique position to supply their customers with the best quality and most options of any door supplier in the Cedar Valley. 

We became a master dealer for Liftmaster operators in 1998. LiftMaster in the last 10 years has set the standard in the door industry for garage door openers. Their simple mechanical approach and state of the art electronics, have distanced them from anyone else in the industry. Even smart phone technology is available on all their opener platforms.

Further growth was fueled by adding dock equipment, rolling shutters, fire door and rolling door products.

All these factors played a major role in our growth over the years but none more so than the great employees we were blessed to have. Many have been at Christie Door Co. for years and are still there today. Our success would not have been possible without them.

In 2014 a decision was made to retire. We were very happy to find a buyer experienced in the door industry in Iowa. Today, Brandon Davis and Steve Rogers continue the legacy of Christie Door Company, providing customers with quality products and service and growing the customer service Christie Door Company has been known for into the future.