KSS Enterprises, now its 63rd year of business, has undergone many changes through the years. However, with the evolution of the company, there has been one constant, to bring our clients the highest quality products and best service possible. We invite you to take a few moments now to walk through the company history with us.

1945 Fred Martinis opens a small cleaning supply store in downtown Kalamazoo, on W. Michigan Avenue, known as Kalamazoo Sanitary Supply Company. His focus is primarily on Cleaning Supplies.

1961 Kalamazoo Sanitary Supply Company is purchased by Dwight Stocker. He moves the company to Portage Road near Michigan Avenue, and eventually to 410 East South Street.

1965 Ralph Claxton is hired as a sales representative.

1974 Ralph Claxton purchases the company, and for the next 13 years, he builds a solid customer base by promoting quality products, service and education. He is supported by an inside staff of three employees.

1987 The Hill Family purchases Kalamazoo Sanitary Supply with Tom Hill, Jr. as President, Tom Hill, Sr. as Vice President, and Terry (Hill) Dawson as General Manager. Ralph Claxton continues on as sales consultant to KSS. As a new woman owned business, it expands to 8 employees with the addition of a warehouse manager, clerical staff and outside sales representatives. KSS installs its first computer and inventory is expanded to better serve customer needs.

1988 Now having ten employees, KSS quickly outgrows the South Street facility and searches for a new location. After major renovations to an existing car dealership, adding an expanded showroom, parking, office and warehousing, Kalamazoo Sanitary Supply opens its current location at 616 East Vine Street.

1990 Kalamazoo Sanitary Supply, Inc. continues its growth, now with 15 employees, and adds 6,600 square feet to its warehouse.

1993 Ralph Claxton formally retires from KSS, after 28 years with the company.

1994 Kalamazoo Sanitary Supply, Inc. changes its name to KSS Enterprises to better represent the business as much more than a supply company. KSS also extends its sales territory into Ft. Wayne, Indiana and has a staff of 28 employees.

1995 KSS Enterprises becomes a Hillyard Floor Care Products Distributor. With this, comes expansion in the Grand Rapids, Northern Michigan areas, and Northern Indiana. Additional warehouse space is leased.

1995 Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the company employs a staff of 33 with over 130 years of combined industry experience. KSS adds Inventory Management, Just in Time Delivery, and expands its Factory-Authorized Service and Repair Department. All of which results in ongoing improvements to proper product usage, labor cost reductions and better time management for our current customers.

1997 KSS purchases Chuck's Supply, a janitorial supply distributor in Jackson Michigan. Mark Todaro of Chuck's Supply remains on, as Branch Manager. With our first branch office, KSS expands its Michigan territory eastwardly.

1998 With a staff of 40, KSS moves into the future, adding an Internet website and quarterly newsletter, bringing the customer base continuous and expanded opportunities for learning. Though many things have changed throughout the years, the fundamental key to our success has not, and will not change - bringing quality productions with unsurpassed service to our clients.

1999 KSS expanded once again by adding on new footage of 7,500 square feet.  We accomplished this by building over our existing warehouse.  This allowed us to modernize our warehousing facilities with new loading docks, expanded warehousing and a new mezzanine area.  We added a new sales division specializing in Grocery Store Sanitation programs and products.  This initially added 2 new Sales Consultants.

2000 This was a big year for KSS as we added our second branch, located in Grand Rapids, MI.  This also expanded our physical location and allowed us to better serve this market area.  With this branch addition, we added 6 new team members.  Also, this provided us with a second location for our service department. A full time Service Department coordinator was also added to our Kalamazoo location.

2002 Became the year we opened a new facility in South Bend, Indiana.  This provided us with additional market representation in Indiana and added 3 new team members.  We now have a gorgeous office building and state of the art training facility.  This was also a year of change for our Grand Rapids Branch as they moved into a new modern facility on 44th Street that offered an expanded showroom, easy access on and off the expressway, and expanded the Service and Repair.

2004 KSS continues to grow in developing further our customer base and employee team.  This year we added three (3) new sales positions and a part-time clerical assistant.  Additionally, we brought on several new product lines to better service our customers needs.

2005 KSS expands further North with the purchase of Mussio Janitorial in Petoskey (Alanson), Michigan.  With our 5^th location, we are able to broaden our service area and product lines.  We are very excited about our new branch in Petoskey and the professional team that is ready to assist you in your cleaning needs.

2006 KSS purchases the Ware Wash Division of Stafford-Smith creating additional Ware Wash and Laundry territory and customer base, as well as continued customer support and quality products. Our additional Sales Team brings multiple years of expertise and experience to this KSS division.  We are excited to serve you !!