Business Spotlight: Springfield Janitor Supply Inc.

Owners: Bob Hawn and Paul Passanise

Founded: 1986

Address: 2255 N. Burton Ave., Springfield, MO 65803

Phone: (417) 866-4221

Fax: (417) 866-4264

Web: www.springfieldjanitorsupply.com

Services: Distributor of commercial cleaning products and paper supplies

Employees: 22

The business philosophy of value-added customer service can even help sell toilet paper and floor wax.

Springfield Janitor Supply Inc., founded in 1986 by Randy Mayes and Leonard Draschil, was based on the idea that helping customers use the products it sold would benefit everyone.

“I was general manager of a contract cleaner and had people come in all the time and try to sell me products,” Mayes recalls. “It was obvious they didn’t have a clue how to use the stuff. I thought, ‘What if there was a supply company that knew how to use what they sell?’”

The business began in a 1,600-square-foot, two-car garage at 508 W. Atlantic St. In 1992, Mayes bought out Draschil, and in May 2003, Mayes sold Springfield Janitor Supply to Bob Hawn and Paul Passanise, president of St. Louis-based Royal Papers Inc.

Springfield Janitor Supply now operates from a 12,000-square-foot warehouse, recently renovated its showroom and runs six assorted delivery vehicles. While Hawn declined to disclose revenues, he says the business has experienced double-digit growth every year and doubled in revenues since he purchased it.

Healthy market

With a large market share in health care, including all hospitals within 100 miles and nursing homes, Springfield Janitor Supply also sells to universities and schools, cleaning companies, office buildings and, as Hawn puts it, “anybody that uses toilet paper.”

The company has continued to sell all types of cleaning and janitorial supplies. Revenues break down into three categories: 40 percent from restroom paper and trashcan liners, 40 percent from cleaning chemicals and 20 percent from hardware and equipment.

Hawn continues the business philosophy of value-added customer service on which Springfield Janitor Supply was founded. Its seven salespeople spend about 70 percent of their time training and consulting with customers, he says.

Longtime customer Greg Cox, who owns Xtreme Kleen, explains, “They are a sounding board for me. For example, my sales rep went to look at a carpet with me that had some pretty bad stains on it. We took the pH level of it (to) figure out what the spill was and that helped us clean up a little better.”

Richard Jones, director of maintenance and facilities for Nixa R-II School District, is a 13-year customer of Springfield Janitor Supply. He adds, “The customer is always right even when we’re wrong, and (Hawn) understands that.”

Purchase power

Hawn also understands how to utilize national buying power to make Springfield Janitor Supply more competitive. He uses his contacts through partner Passanise, who leads a larger janitorial and paper supply company, and the national distributor organization, AFFLink. As a member of this industry organization, Hawn says, “We’re a regional player with national buying power.”

As Hawn looks to the future, he sees green and automation.

“Our big push right now is green-sale certification,” Hawn says. “We’re really into the environment, which I think is a trend for the future.”

Besides environmentally friendly products, Hawn is focusing on touchless restrooms. With automatic flushers, faucets and towel cabinets, Hawn hopes automatic doors are on the horizon. “We do $100,000 in automatic flushers,” Hawn quips.[[In-content Ad]]