WE HAVE A RICH HERITAGE ROOTED IN TEXAS

If there’s a backyard shed in Tyler, Texas, chances are it was built by Atlas Backyard Sheds. For 40 years now, three generations of the Downs family have been transforming backyard spaces into living spaces with the construction of sheds, garages, decks, fences, patio covers, hot tubs, pools, and other small, custom-built-buildings.

Since the 1981 founding of the company in Tyler, it has since expanded to nine different locations throughout East Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including dedicated spa showrooms in Tyler and Plano. The company expanded in 2016 with a separate division for luxury hot tubs called Atlas Spas and Swim Spas. Atlas is an authorized dealer of Master Spas hot tubs and swim spas, including the official Michael Phelps Signature Swim Spas.

To celebrate their 35th anniversary, Atlas partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Smith County in building a barn style playhouse for their fundraising event called Playhouses on the Plaza. Atlas’s playhouse was displayed along with seven other themed playhouses on the downtown Tyler plaza during the last week of the Azalea Trail, which was then auctioned off. It’s not the first time the business has donated their skills to Habitat for Humanity – in 2014 they helped raise the walls on the nonprofit group’s 101st home built in Tyler, Texas. “We are always looking for ways to contribute to the community in Tyler and the surrounding area, so partnering with Habitat for Humanity made perfect sense,” said Atlas CEO, William F. Downs, Jr. “When my father, Bill Downs, started Atlas in 1981, customer service was a top priority, and over the years as we have grown, we have kept customer satisfaction first, and I contribute that to our success.”

In the 1980s, Tyler’s population was around 70,000. It is currently at 110,000, a 57% growth rate. Here in 2021, at a time when big box stores are offering all kinds of self-assembly, made-in-China plastic storage sheds, Atlas still builds them to last with wood, by hand, using quality framing and materials. The backyard-focused company was appropriately launched in a backyard itself. It was behind the house in Tyler, Texas, where William F. Downs, Sr. and his wife, Shirley Downs with the help of their son, William F. Downs, Jr., began commercially building sheds. At that time each shed was primarily made of metal – built 100% by hand, all nails and no screws, which was a time-intensive process. The company was called Atlas Portable Buildings then, and as consumer demands and tastes have changed, the company has continued to evolve to provide all the elements that make suburban life. Today, Atlas Backyard Sheds are the backyard professionals, providing shade, cool dips in a pool, relaxing hot tubs and swim spas along with any size custom building.

To celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary, Downs invested in the opportunity for his employees to go through the Legacy Letter Challenge. This will give each person the resources to write a well written and meaningful legacy letter to their children.

Founder, William F. Downs, Sr., passed away in 2015 at the age of 76, leaving behind a legacy with his company. William F. Downs, Jr. is the CEO and President of Atlas, working alongside his sons, who are handling various aspects of the company.