Blain's Farm and Fleet

Not to be confused with Mills Fleet Farm.

Blain's Farm & Fleet
Type	Family Owned
Industry	Retail
Founded	1955 by brothers W.C. (Claude) Blain and N.B. (Bert) Blain
Headquarters	Janesville, Wisconsin, USA
Products	Clothing, footwear, housewares, lawn & garden, farm equipment, automotive, sporting goods, hunting fishing, toys.
Website	www.farmandfleet.com

Blain's Farm & Fleet is a regional chain of 36 retail stores in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. The stores sell tires, agricultural supplies and equipment, hunting and fishing equipment and licenses, kitchen appliances, housewares, automotive goods, men's & women's clothing, household hardware, lawn and garden supplies, outdoor power tools, pumps and generators, paint, pet supplies, candy, sporting goods, tools and toys.

History

The company was founded in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1955 by brothers W. C. "Claude" Blain and N. B. "Bert" Blain. Originally, Wisconsin fair trade laws required customers be issued membership cards to be sold discounted merchandise. A change in the law eliminated the need for these cards, making Blain's Farm and Fleet one of the nations first discount retailers. Each retail store is part of Farm and Fleet Stores which operate in four divisions by region, while the distribution is handled by a separate entity, Blain Supply Company.^[1] The Blain family still owns the business as a private closely held corporation. It consists of Blain's Farm and Fleet (retail outlets) and Blain Supply Inc. (holding company and distribution). It is primarily owned by CEO/President Jane Blain Gilbertson since her brother, Robert, retired in 2014. The chain has one distribution center in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Blain's Farm and Fleet is not affiliated with Mills Fleet Farm, although the companies have similar names.^[2]

Locations

Illinois

Iowa

Wisconsin

References

↑ "Company info". Retrieved 2007-09-11.
↑ http://www.rrstar.com/article/20120725/Blogs/307259870

External links

Blain's Farm and Fleet website

Hand tool manufacturers

Current	DASCO PRO, INC. Apex Tool Group Allen Armstrong Tools Crescent Diamond GearWrench K-D Tools Lufkin Nicholson Plumb SATA Tools Wiss Xcelite Bondhus Buck Bros. Channellock Cornwell Tools Digitool Solutions Disston Saw Works EGA Master Eklind Emerson Ridgid Empire Level Estwing Felo FEW Fiskars Gerber Gardner Bender Gedore Gray Tools Dynamic Tools Hazet Heyco Ideal Industries Pratt-Read SK Hand Tools Western Forge Klein Tools Knipex KUKKO Leatherman Lie-Nielsen Toolworks Lisle Corporation Lowell Corporation Matco Tools Martin Tool & Forge Newell Rubbermaid Irwin Lenox OTC Park Tool PB Swiss Saltus Sandvik Snap-on Bahco CDI Torque Products Williams Stahlwille Stanley Black & Decker Blackhawk Bostitch DeWalt Facom Mac Tools Proto Sidchrome Stanley Hand Tools Textron Greenlee Klauke Paladin Tools Techtronic Industries Milwaukee Thorsen Manufacturing Tomé Fèteira Toptul Vaughan Victorinox Wenger Wera Tools Wescott Westward Tools Wiha Tools Witte Tools Wright Tool

Historic	Coes Wrench Company Easco Hand Tools Forest City Screwdriver and Drill Company Goodell-Pratt Hinsdale Holtzapffel Indestro Mathieson McKaig-Hatch New Britain Machine Company Norris North Brothers Manufacturing Company H. D. Smith & Co. Utica Tools Bonney Forge Herbrand Vlchek

House brands	Ace Hardware Ace Tools AutoZone Duralast Blain's Farm and Fleet Duracraft Canadian Tire Mastercraft The Home Depot Husky Lee Valley Veritas Lowe's Kobalt Menards Masterforce Montgomery Ward PowrKraft Sears Craftsman

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