Hardware History: Blish Mize

While 2021 will remain a year for the industry to remember, it also marked an important milestone for hardware heavyweight Blish Mize as the wholesale distributor entered its 150th year in business.

Founded in 1871 by brothers-in-law David Blish, Edward Mize and Jack Silliman, the company’s original mission involved outfitting wagon trains headed west from the Missouri River. The trio’s hard work paid off. Today Blish-Mize remains family-owned by the fifth generation of founder descendants and serves over 1500 customers in thirteen states throughout the Midwest, the Rockies, and the Southwest.

Celebrating their 150th anniversary also means that Blish Mize has weathered their fair share of local, regional, and national challenges. These include the 1874 grasshopper plague, the Great Depression, local floods and dust bowls, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the 2008 recession and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.

PUNCHlist spoke with Sarah Lee, Vice-President of Purchasing at Blish Mize who has been with the company for nineteen years and has helped the company continue to deliver on its mission of “Delivering More” by empowering independent hardware retailers with best-in-class service and products.

What trends and industry shifts are on your radar for 2022?

More than ever, Hardware and Home Improvement continue to be at the forefront of our industry. Homeowners are still spending money on much-needed upgrades and many are welcoming the idea of taking on the challenge of such projects themselves. DIY and Hardware show no signs of slowing down, especially with the amount of “how-to” and #DIYhacks content that is being churned out across the media.

Intrinsic to the Blish Mize "Delivering More" mission is delivering quality customer care and service. Can you tell us more about how you continue to achieve this?

For over 150 years we have gone above and beyond for our customers. Whether it’s a small thing, like personally delivering a product to a customer’s door or something larger like helping rebuild a retail location after a natural disaster, we are always looking for ways to make working with us easier and better than working with larger companies where requests and personal touch can get lost in the shuffle. We strive to make our business as personal as possible and to truly know who our customers are. My experience working in purchasing also shows me how relationships matter on the other side of the business. We work closely with our vendors to ensure they are reaching our customers with the products they need as well as necessary marketing materials and face-to-face time at our Buying Markets. This business is 360 degrees.

How has Blish Mize been impacted in the last 18 months by the pandemic?

If there was ever a time that defined the term “all hands on deck,” this was it. We shuffled employees, we put in extra hours and worked to make sure products got out, all while keeping our employees safe and protected. It was a challenge to say the least, however, we also learned so many new ways of doing business. We took our Buying Market virtual for the first time. We put in endless hours on Zoom and on phone calls to stay as connected as possible with our community. In the end, we learned that the best business in this industry is done face-to-face. In our industry, it’s imperative to build real business relationships and connections with facetime. As our industry evolves we hope that never changes. While there will always be a place for virtual events and e-commerce, in-person connections are vital to human happiness and success.

How does Blish Mize help to empower independent businesses?  

We strive to make each independent business we work with as successful as possible by providing each owner with the resources they need to optimize their business. Our toolkits can cover anything from marketing, pricing, store layout ideas and other bespoke recommendations based on the store’s needs. We invest a lot of time and resources into sharing interesting ways to merchandise goods and best practices for ordering and budgeting. We are well established as one of the most historical businesses in the Hardware and Home Improvement industry and have effectively navigated the retail landscape for over 150 years - so we’re ready for whatever the next century has in store!

Having been in business for over a century, what new technologies have you embraced to keep pace with the evolving Hardware and Home Improvement industry?

Our 500,000 square foot distribution center in Atchison, Kansas is a modern and efficient state-of-the-art facility. We operate in a paperless environment, using radio frequency technology, which allows our warehouse team to deliver complete and accurate fill rates on all orders. Being centrally located within the United States helps guarantee a timely delivery and departure schedule for all orders.

Our high-tech efficiency and product offering of over 60,000 items differentiate us from the competition. We add a personal touch to every aspect of our company, right down to using our own Blish-Mize equipment servicing across 13 states, allowing us to deliver for our customers quickly and efficiently.

You can see our distribution center upgrade here: