May 24, 2024
Sample Blog7
Although the company as we know it today was established in 1975, the company's roots go back well beyond that date.
It all began back in the early 1950s. There were three plumbing and heating warehouses all owned by the same man, Harry Yelton. One was located in Granite City, Illinois and was called Metro East Supply another was located in Belleville, Illinois and was called Belleville Supply and the third was located in St. Louis, Missouri and was called Mid Valley Supply.
While the business was mostly plumbing, the also carried a line of heating and air conditioning with the brand name of Inland Heating & Air Conditioning. It was a brand privately labeled by Mr. Yelton just for his companies.
In time, the branch in Granite City closed and the one in Belleville was sold off. By this time, Harry had died and left the remaining store to his son, Harry Yelton, jr. who changed the company name to Yelton Supply.
During the same time, a man named Carl Langendorf was the regional sales manager for the Janitrol Heating & Air Conditioning Company that was located in Columbus, Ohio. His office was located in St. Louis, Missouri. One of their biggest customers in the area was Henson-Robinson in Springfield, Illinois. In fact he sold so much equipment to them, Carl convinced Janitrol to open a branch office and warehouse in St. Louis to better service the area. It was located at 1720 Macklind Avenue, just down the street from the old Highlands Park. When Carl opened the warehouse in 1958, he hired Ken Arnsmeyer, Sr. who at the time was running a warehouse in East St. Louis for a warehousing company named Columbia Terminals, formerly McMahon Transfer.
In 1966, Janitrol decided to close the warehouse in St. Louis. Carl went to Columbus to become the national sales manager for Janitrol and Ken went to work for Yelton Supply who then became the distributor for the Janitrol brand of heating and air conditioning. The office and warehouse were located at 3740 Sullivan Avenue. It was adjacent to the old Sportsman Park and originally had served as a parking garage for the stadium.
