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.