Distribution of janitorial, maintenance and facility supplies and equipment is the only profession that Tony Savaiano has ever experienced. In 1969 while still in high school, Tony went to work for a Wichita based Janitorial Company as a part time employee. This opportunity allowed him to learn this rewarding industry from the ground up. He gained experience in the “hands on” caring of floors while working for their contract service company. He became exposed to management and the manufacturing processes it takes to build rotary and other types of cleaning brushes while working for their brush company.

Through high school, Tony had the chance to learn warehousing, shipping, receiving, delivery and inventory control first hand. He learned the inner workings of our industry’s cleaning equipment while working as a mechanic in their equipment service department. In college he gained an interest and began to learn Sales and Sales Force Management. After graduation from Wichita State University in 1977 with a degree in Business Administration, he was offered and accepted a job with this same company as a new salesperson.

This job proved to be a great experience of growing a new territory, managing customer relationships and building a new customer base. It did not take long for Tony to establish himself as a self motivated, driven, successful salesperson. This success earned him his way to the top of the company’s sales force. Tony and his business partner at the time believed they could develop a better company model that would benefit their customers, employees and suppliers. Massco is the result of that belief.

Even today as President of the company, sales is Tony’s passion, which is shown every day in the way he manages, drives and provides vision to Massco. “We are today and will always be a sales driven company”, says Savaiano. “In today’s business environment growth is needed to compete with emerging competition, to continually bring value to our customers and suppliers, and to provide the needed opportunities for our valued employees”.

Massco Company History

1982 MASSCO was started by Tony Savaiano and Richard Warren. MASSCO was a start-up company that initially purchased a computer system for transactions, management information and marketing processing purposes. MASSCO also secured a major-brand paper and chemical supplier. These two brand-name suppliers were the Butcher Chemical Company, and Bay West Paper Company.
1983 Three salesmen were hired in September. The Clem Ast Company was hired for management consulting assistance.
1984 The Company moved from a 7,000 square foot warehouse to a 30,000 square foot warehouse in March. In July, additional outside salespeople were hired and new accounts continued to be added.
1985 MASSCO purchased the assets of Rogers Janitorial in Hutchinson, Kansas in September. The sales force was increased to nine and total employees to nineteen.
1986 In November, MASSCO began a start-up operation in Kansas City, Missouri.
1987 MASSCO Wichita moved into a 50,000 square foot warehouse in November.
1988 In January, MASSCO began a start-up operation in Topeka, Kansas.
1991 MASSCO began operating in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with the purchase of the assets of Morrison’s in January. In June, MASSCO purchased Bob’s Janitorial Supply Division and Capital Janitorial in Topeka, Kansas.
1992 In January, K’s Maintenance in St. Charles, Missouri was purchased.
1993 In April, MASSCO acquired Supply/Service, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri. MASSCO opened its first retail concept store EcoClean in Wichita. This concept eventually evolved into a different structure. Today MASSCO has expanded showrooms within our warehouse distribution centers that facilitate our customers’ retail needs.
1994 In January, MASSCO completed an asset purchase of substantially all of the assets of Advance Paper Co. Inc., a New Orleans, Louisiana paper and janitorial supplies distribution company.
1995 MASSCO Wichita moved from sharing the same location with MASSCO Corporate into a more efficient 1-story high stack 24,000 square foot warehouse. MASSCO Wichita opened a separate retail store.
1996 MASSCO began a corporate telesales operation to support sales efforts throughout the multiple MASSCO locations. MASSCO Kansas City opened a separate retail store.
1997 MASSCO purchased a company called Internal Waste Systems, LLC, which brokered trash service for companies with multiple retail locations. Subsequently the name was changed to Solid Solutions, LLC.
1998 In April, MASSCO purchased 30% ownership of High Country Chemical, a janitorial/sanitation distributor located in Denver, Colorado.
1999 MASSCO sold Advance Paper in New Orleans, Louisiana in July and acquired the assets and operations of Paper Sales Company, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas in August. Paper Sales, a packaging, sanitary, and foodservice disposable distribution company was set up to operate at that time as a separate division, and not as a part of the MASSCO Wichita branch.
2000 In May, MASSCO St. Louis and MASSCO Kansas City combined into one location in North Kansas City, Missouri. In July, Tony Savaiano acquired 100% ownership of MASSCO, and became President and CEO. In November, the Paper Sales division was combined with the MASSCO Wichita operations.
2001 In June, MASSCO started what turned out to be a long tradition by hosting its first ever MASSCO Mania tradeshow in each branch. MASSCO Mania is a premier customer event featuring a full day of hospitality, education and training, demonstrations, and a tradeshow featuring the latest innovations in our industry. In July, an additional 14,000 square feet of warehouse and offices were added to the MASSCO Wichita Warehouse to accommodate the Paper Sales consolidation. The Corporate offices acquired and remodeled additional office space adjacent to the MASSCO Wichita branch. MASSCO sold its 30% ownership of High Country Chemical. The Wichita retail operation was also moved to the MASSCO Wichita branch for an easy-access, warehouse-supported concept at the branch location.
2005 In August, MASSCO added 6,000 square feet of warehouse and offices to the MASSCO Oklahoma City branch.
2006 In February, MASSCO purchased the assets of AR Supplies, Inc., a long-time customer of MASSCO operating out of a 3,200 square foot distribution center in Ransom, Kansas. In addition, all of the employees of AR Supplies, Inc. joined the MASSCO team bringing to MASSCO a stronger western Kansas presence for the company. MASSCO Kansas City added 8,000 square feet of warehouse space.
2007 MASSCO hosted a party to celebrate our 25th year in business in June. Many industry leaders, past employees and current team members gathered to help celebrate this accomplishment. In June, MASSCO introduced the first annual Mania Housekeeping Olympics. MASSCO customers participate in five competitive events to build morale and reinforce a team spirit. These Olympics have proven to stimulate, encourage and motivate our customer’s cleaning teams.
2008 In January, MASSCO introduced Masslink, our state-of-the-art Website that provides our customers with 24/7 access to our on-line ordering capability, electronic catalog, customized shopping lists, real-time inventory availability and pricing, product usage history and much more. Masslink is a better, more efficient way for our customers to do business. MASSCO invested in the expansion of our Industrial / Packaging initiative by adding 5 new packaging sales people. Geographically, these people enhanced our Oklahoma City and Kansas City Branches. In June, MASSCO Oklahoma City moved from our previous 18,000 square foot facility to an efficient 36,000 square foot warehouse and office facility. In November, MASSCO introduced EARN, a renewed commitment to our customers designed to meet their needs in today’s fast-paced business climate. Massco is dedicated to a core belief that we must focus our resources to EARN the opportunity to be in partnership with our customers.
2009 MASSCO invested in an Operational Development Program that is based on improving performance. The focus was on improving our customer and team member satisfaction, “World Class” Customer Service being the ultimate goal. MASSCO also built a customer matrix to better allocate our resources to our most important customers.
2010 MASSCO added a Human Resource leader to further invest in our number one asset, our team members. MASSCO also initiated a three-year implementation plan of the Tour De Force Customer Relationship Management and Sales Force Automation software program. These major initiatives were designed to increase customer and employee satisfaction levels, increase customer and employee retention rates and maximize the efficiency of our employees.
MASSCO has adapted over the years to best meet the opportunities in the industry. We are committed to doing what it takes to fulfill both our vision and mission statements.