MANATEE - For 15 years, Steve and Nancy Apatow operated a pet equipment business in Brooklyn, N.Y., but had run out of space with nowhere to expand.

But the final straw was not about floor space.

"The real motivation to move down here was a guy stuck a gun in my face," remembered Steve Apatow, 52, of Lakewood Ranch. The street assault pretty much sealed his decision to move south.

It took four years but by 2001, the Apatows had moved the company and brought a handful of trusted employees with them. Today, PetLift Equipment Corp., located in a small industrial park at 6340 17th Street Circle E., is thriving and ready to expand again.

The company builds from scratch a wide array of products for veterinarian offices, such as animal bathing tubs, hydraulic grooming tables, electric exam tables, gurneys, surgical suites, cages, scales and animal dryers.

The privately-owned company employs 28 with several million dollars worth of sales each year, said Nancy Apatow, 47, a vice president who also does the accounting.

"It's been a fun business," she said. "It tapped into my creativity and Steve's, too. He had mechanical and drafting abilities and sales skills."

Steve Apatow, the firm's president, began his career designing and furnishing beauty shops. He and his wife took over the family business from her father, Leonard Sciarrino, who had founded it in the 1960s.

"We make everything you would see in an animal hospital," he said. Also among his clients are animal control facilities, kennels, military and police units, grooming businesses and pet shops.

The manufacturing area includes wood and metal shops. PetLift products are sold all over the U.S. and Canada, along with occasional shipments to Europe and Asia. But oddly, the company sells very little of its merchandise in Florida.

"We would like to do more direct business," explained Steve Apatow. "We really aren't all that established in Florida."

The company is also trying to expand into the custom cabinet industry and is in the process of building a wood reception desk that will grace an animal hospital in Fort Myers.

Employees who moved down from New York with the company are thrilled with their new lives in Manatee County.

"I got tired of the city," said Angel Gonzalez, 54, a 19-year employee who is chief of electronics. "When he told me about that (the move), I said, 'When?'"

Martin Fraser, 57, foreman of the sheet metal department, moved south happily. "The quality of life here is great."

PetLift Equipment Corp.

• Founded: 1960s

• Products: Animal bathing tubs, hydraulic grooming tables, electric exam tables, gurneys, surgical suites, cages, scales, animal dryers and custom cabinets

• Keys to success: Good service, high quality products, long-time skilled employees, family members with decades of expertise

• Earnings: Several million annually

• Web site: www.petlift.com; telephone, (941) 727-5700, toll-free, 1-888-388-1159