Company History
From axle grease and horseshoes in the 1800's to state of the art marketing and retail programs in the 2000's, Blish-Mize has consistently delivered reliability and profitability to its customers.
Blish-Mize is one of the oldest and most successful distributors of its type in the nation. The company was founded in 1871 by three brothers-in-law: David P. Blish, Edward A. Mize and Jack B. Silliman. The company got its start by outfitting wagon trains headed west from Atchison, Kan.
In just a few years, Blish Mize & Silliman was distributing to general stores and eventually getting about 1900 goods out the door to approximately 800 stores throughout five Midwestern states.
We've seen our product lines evolve from the goods needed to make a trek to the West to stoves, toys, bicycles and even our own line of kitchen tools, pocket knives and axes. Taking the first letter from each of our names, the company became known within the hardware industry as Best Made Steel.
But, by the mid 1930s, most Blish, Mize & Silliman clients had converted to hardware stores and the growth and focus of the company began—distributing became our main business. We also saw two name changes—to BM & S in the 1970's and then to BLISH-MIZE CO. in the 1980's.
Our customers today include hardware stores, retail home centers, building materials dealers, lumberyards and paint stores. We still sell to one of the same stores that we did at the turn of the century and Stanley Tool Works is one of our original suppliers.
Not even drought, depression, or war could prevent us from moving forward. That's why we've been around longer than most businesses in the United States. We have evolved with the market place, worked hard to improve our capabilities, and have offered know-how to our customers. Without our customers we wouldn't have a storied past, or a promising future.
Looking Forward
Our customers include hardware stores, retail home centers, building materials dealers, lumber yards and paint stores. We also fulfill on-line orders for customers who are shopping Amazon.com, Cornerhardware.com and many other Internet sites. We provide over 50,000 SKUs and we have competitive programs with over 1,000 manufacturers and have approximately 1,400 customers.
We have a customer-centric business philosophy and our management is constantly looking for ways to enhance our service and our marketing programs. Our underlying philosophy is, "If we don't take care of our customer, someone else will."
Utilizing a well-grounded on-line Internet strategy, we have further opened our communication lines with customers. Through our web site customers can place orders, manage accounts, view merchandise assortments, read marketing information and learn about new products.
Our dedication to customer service has helped guide the company throughout its history and helped position Blish-Mize Co. as one of the survivors in an era of fierce consolidation and competition in our industry.
Company management is now in its fourth and fifth generation of the founders. More than 136 years after Blish, Mize and Silliman arrived in Atchison, the company they founded is still running strong.
Employment Opportunities
Thank you for your interest in employment opportunities with Blish-Mize. Blish-Mize is committed to providing a safe, healthy, secure workplace for our employees. All applicants must be able to pass a drug screen to be eligible for employment.
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Blish-Mize is an equal opportunity employer.