Kansas Country Living

Constant family involvement has kept the business in Atchison—its head- quarters are in the original downtown building, just a few blocks from the Missouri River—while a focus on inno- vation and customer service has kept it relevant. The business has evolved from the early days of providing axle grease and horseshoes for pioneers heading west to carrying power tools, something the founders never could have imag- ined, to today’s technology-driven ware- house stocked with 60,000 SKUs/items. “Inventions have constantly kept us on our toes,” said Jonathan D. Mize, CEO and president. “Remember, we started outfitting wagon trains going west. Our business has seen the inven- tion of the automobile, the computer and even just a few years ago Google and Amazon. Each new invention revolutionizes the way we do business. We’ve been able to adapt and stay at the forefront.”

Above: Blish Mize Connor, communications director, with her father, John Mize Jr., who retired from active management after 56 years of service. He still serves as chairman of the board. Right: Jonathan Mize, CEO of Blish-Mize, is the son of John Mize Jr.

and D.P. “David” Blish, a farmer, to join him in the venture. Silliman and Blish went west to make the deal, followed a few months later by Mize. In 1871, they formed Blish, Mize & Silliman using $4,500 as a down payment, plus personal notes at 1% per month interest for the remainder. They worked hard to build a respected distributor to outfit

Fast Start in 1871 Sets the Tone for a Family Culture

On a trip to Kansas in 1870 for Marshall Field and Company of Chicago, J.B. “Jack” Silliman learned that a retail hardware store was for sale in Atchison, which had become a city just a few years earlier in 1855. Silliman saw unlimited potential for outfitting wagon trains headed to the expand- ing west from the Missouri River. Back in Chicago, he enlisted his brothers- in-law E.A. “Edward” Mize, an insurance man,

wagon trains and in just a couple of years the company was distributing all types of goods to more than 800

“Remember, we started outfitting wagon trains going west. Our business has seen the invention of the automobile, the computer and even just a few years ago Google and Amazon. Each new invention revolutionizes the way we do business. We’ve been able to adapt and stay at the forefront.”

 KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING  13

JUNE 2019