Kansas Country Living

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 imagined, to today’s technology-driven warehouse stocked with 60,000 SKUs/items.

name, and they appreciate working with a like- minded business. “It’s nice to have another family-owned business take care of our family-owned business,” Megan Melby said. “They have a better understanding of how important it is to have correct product shipped, having your store set up properly and they always have great marketing tools ready to show us at their buying markets. Probably the most important is that they are in rural America like we are. It’s a big selling point that I can say I got all of this from Atchison.” Nearly 150 years of family leadership has resulted in longtime customers who look to Blish- Mize for reliability and profitability for their inde- pendent stores, which range from one-off mom and pop shops to mini-chains. From pliers to paint to power drills, Blish-Mize distributes more than 60,000 different hardline products. Beyond distribution, they offer a variety of retail profitability services like marketing, pricing, planning and store design. “We treat our customers like family,” Jonathan said. “We view our work as a partnership. We also pride ourselves on our generations-old ethos of ‘the customer is always right.’ That sentiment is a rarity these days.” Longevity Among Customers and Employees In addition to long-time customers, it’s not unusual for employees to retire with 30 or 50 years of service at Blish-Mize. Corporate offices are in Atchison as well as the company’s main 500,000-square-foot distribution center. They employ 150 people in Kansas and in the other states where they serve customers on their own company equipment: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, northwestern Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota,

Texas and Wyoming. They also operate cross dock facilities in Denver, Dallas and Houston. Their reach is even farther, though, as they ship nationwide to other hardware retailers, as well as provide e-commerce fulfillment services to some of the most well-known online retailers. The family counts embracing e-commerce as one of the turning points in the modern era of the business. Other adaptations that have allowed Blish-Mize to remain competitive include adopting a digital, rapid-turnaround warehouse; acquiring competitors when they go out of business in order to expand into more states; and offering online sales via Hardware House, the private-label brand that Blish-Mize recently took full ownership of and continues to offer thousands of high quality products in the major product line categories. As they evolve, the family said, they stay grounded in their roots, including staying in Atchison. “Atchison is more than our home” Jonathan said. “We are one of the strongest supporters of the Atchison community and many local causes such as United Way, Relay for Life, Chamber of Commerce, Amelia Earhart Festival, YMCA, local schools, churches, food pantry, just to name a few. Our company actively promotes volunteerism among employees by allowing time off with pay for certain community volunteer work. The town’s success is very important to us.” He started in the business at 24 and turned 50 this year, so it’s likely that Jonathan has many years remaining at the helm of the business. When asked if there is a sixth generation to continue the tradition, he enthusiastically said yes. “There are lots of great options to choose from in the next generation.” KCL

 KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING  15

JUNE 2019