Home City Ice is established in Home City Ohio (now Sayler Park, OH), servicing residential customers with home ice delivery prior to the modern refrigerator entering homes.
Frank J Sedler, a refrigeration equipment salesman buys into Home City Ice. The Sedler family still owns Home City Ice to this day, with the fourth generation beginning to work in the business.
First acquisition takes place- Aurora Ice (Aurora, IN)
The first three modern ice merchandisers were purchased for outdoor storage at convenience stores, and the first direct store deliveries (DSD) were made.
First year to make a profit in almost 20 years after the refrigerator disrupted home ice delivery, forcing a pivot to convenience store delivery
Equipped with a refrigeration unit and liftgate, now one truck and driver can complete a delivery route solo.
Dave Shultz was hired as first full-time mechanic to maintain vehicles in house, and to this day each facility has their own facility to keep the fleet in top order.
Poly ice bags replaced machined stitched paper bags. Poly bags are more durable and enable the consumer to see the product before opening.
Kroger and other grocers began retailing the product in indoor merchandisers with glass doors, a practice continued to this day.
Internally developed software for routing customers and achieving a high in stock percentage was introduced with this platform
Thicker turbo ice in the form of Ice Nuggets replaced cubes, which were a sanitation hazard and expensive to produce.
Greg Geiser moves into a full time customer facing role, creating a department and team to understand customer needs and advocate for them. He leads this team today.
Introduced a second product line of 25lb bags. This line has become the consumer's package of choice and makes up the majority of sales today. History has shown this package to increase a retailers sales by 30%.
First time back office functions were separated from operations.
For the first time, due to growth and multiple facilities our management staff gathered annually to learn from each other and spread best practices to every facility. Sales crossed $10mm for the first time.
Jay Stautberg was hired as the first full-time controller who became the company's first CFO. He continues in this role today.
HCI's central equipment facility "Rt. 128" was the first of its kind in the industry. Merchandisers, trucks and equipment were purchased, stored and rehabbed centrally, allowing ice plants to focus on core duties of keeping up customer service.
Acquired Polar Ice Company, 50% of Home City Ice's sales- greatly expanding footprint and facilities.
Moved operations into Nashville TN after a major retailer requested service, within two weeks of the call. Still a growing market today.
Developed the payment by scan platform to give customers more options for payment in their ice program.
Moved into current corporate office to accommodate growth. This building supports our field operations today.
With the acquisitions of Dixie Ice, Sonny's Ice, Mid City Ice, Iceberg and Ballard Brother's, Home City Ice effectively moves into the Georgia market.
With the purchase of Mr J's Ice, Consolidated Ice and Baker's Ice, Home City Ice enters the St Louis Metro.
In response to customer demand for improved service, Home City Ice enters Kansas City, later purchasing Berry's Arctic Ice in Topeka, and opening distribution points in Kansas City and Wichita.
With the purchase of Messershmitt Ice, Home City Ice enters the Iowa market.
The international packaged ice association is the accrediting organization for packaged ice suppliers. Home City Ice is a proud member.
Home City Ice has more perfect operational inspections over the last decade than any other supplier, and most of the rest of the industry combined.