ND-Based, Family Owned & Operated
Grand Forks, North Dakota - July 27th, 2023 - Acme Tools is celebrating its 75th anniversary in the tool and equipment industry and its evolution from a small electric motor repair company founded in 1948 to an omnichannel premier retailer today.
Acme Tools has experienced significant growth since its 50th anniversary in 1998, adding retail and select rental locations in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The company also said that, in 2013, it opened Acme Equipment, a division focused on equipment brands, in Grand Forks and is currently completing construction of a new Acme Equipment facility in Fargo, North Dakota.
After selling its original e-commerce business to Amazon.com in 1999, the company relaunched its e-commerce business in 2010 and reestablished itself as an omnichannel retailer of tools and equipment.
"Thanks go to all our employees and customers as we mark our 75-year history in this industry," said Acme Tools President of Corporate Operations Steve Kuhlman. "Our success and growth as a four-generation family-owned company is a credit to our loyal customers, tool and equipment manufacturers, and employees."
A growing online business was supported by a new Distribution Center built in Grand Forks in 2014 and expanded in 2020. Online orders increased significantly during the pandemic, both regionally with the introduction of buy online, pick up in-store, and nationally with increased stock levels early on. An additional 115,000-square-foot Distribution Center opened in Burnsville, Minnesota, in the spring of this year.
Acme Electric Motor, Inc., was founded by George Kuhlman, who started a motor repair shop in a 30-square-foot garage in downtown Grand Forks. His son, Daniel Kuhlman, joined the company in 1962, becoming the eighth employee, eventually succeeding his father as president during his 60-plus-year career with the company. He had the vision to expand the business to include power tools and to create the Tool Crib of the North in 1970. The Kuhlmans grew sales by opening new retail stores in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa; launching a mail-order division with catalogs; expanding into Acme Rents and Acme Equipment; and launching an e-commerce business selling in all 50 states. Acme Tools employs more than 600 people today.
"Acme Tools has remained at the forefront of the tool and equipment industry for 75 years through innovation, dedication, and hard work," said Paul Kuhlman, president of merchandise operations. "Some of our success is from our great business relationships with our manufacturers and their representatives who help innovate with industry-leading products, which help save the customer time and money."
Acme Tools has more than 75 years of industry experience and is today an omnichannel premier retailer of tools and equipment, with 10 retail stores in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa, and a leading authorized online retailer offering more than 100,000 products from over 1,100 brands at AcmeTools.com.
