Gempler's History
Click on the tabs below to read about the
history of Gempler’s; including the early
years, catalog and website history. |
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- Present
- Website History
- Employees
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1930s:
William Gempler was an award-winning Limburger cheesemaker who worked for Montgomery Ward before starting his own tire shop. |
Summer 1939:
William Gempler originally changed automobile tires in the street (as shown here in an old family photo). |
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1939:
The first Gempler's tire shop was located in a converted barber shop in Monoroe, Wisconsin. |
1939:
Advertisement from the Monroe newspaper first announcing "Bill" Gempler as a Goodyear distributor. |
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1940s:
William's son, Harris, returns from WWII and joins the business. Addition of farm service truck for repairing rubber tractor tires.
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1940s:
The business is moved to a new location with three service bays, a sales office and room for inventory. |
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1971:
Company now in a new building on the outskirts of Monroe. Included six service bays,
a drive-through semi trailer bay, showroom and warehouse. |
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1981:
The "Pit Stop" on-farm tire service is introduced. Our business has always focused on serving the customer. |
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Early 1980s:
Gempler's was bought by a local businessman. Regional fliers (shown above) were mailed which was the
beginning of our mail order business. |
Early 1980s:
The Gempler's catalog was born. These were handed out at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI in 1984. |
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1985:
The first pair of work boots are added to the catalog. We soon learned hard-to-find styles and sizes were an opportunity for growth. Today we offer over 183 styles of boots! |
1987:
The catalog started to gain customers nationwide after
hard-to-find ag safety equipment was added. |
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1995:
Workwear was added. In 2001 we were awarded the Hamilton Carhartt Retailer of Excellence Award. This award is given to companies for outstanding sales and representation of Carhartt products. |
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1995:
In response to customer requests, we quickly
expanded into Pest Management supplies by acquiring
Pest Management Supply out of Hadley, MA. |
1996:
The Shop Supplies category was started. |
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1997:
The Horticulture category was launched. |
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2010:
Our catalog has grown from 12 pages in '84 to 642 pages in 2010. With over 30,000 items,
it is the #1 source book for people working outdoors. |
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Photo from 1971:
This is Don. He started with Gempler's in 1971 as a mechanic. He has changed all kinds of tires from small
cart tires to combine and heavy equipment tires.
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Photo from 2008::
Don (middle, first row) has been part of our Product Support Department for 16 years. We figure he has answered more than 20,000 customer questions
over the years.
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Photo from 1984:
Gempler's Service Team from 1984.
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2010::
Most of the faces may have changed, but there are
many of us who have been with the company for
over 10 years. We've come to know our customers well and will continue to provide the level of service you have come to expect.
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