Bell Janitorial Supply, an Ogden, Utah-based jan/san distributor, recently relocated to a newer, upgraded facility.  

“We just moved down the street, but it is a whole new world for us.  We left a building that was nearly one hundred years old, and moved to a nicer, updated, and more customer-friendly facility,” said Michael Tanner, CEO of Bell Janitorial.   “Our new location is adjacent to the Ogden River Parkway Development area.  For many years, this part of town has been a bit blighted, but people are putting a lot of energy and resources into revitalizing the buildings in the area, and it’s turning into a really nice place.”

Bell Janitorial has six full-time Ogden employees, and stocks over 1,300 items, in addition to floor machine parts, in its new 8,000-square foot Ogden facility. Though it recently had a “soft” opening, the official grand opening will be held February 23, 2012.  During the opening celebration, the Ogden Weber Chamber of Commerce “Spikers” will conduct the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the company will host an open house, vendor fair, barbeque, and the “Bell Janitorial Olympics”.  

The company started in 1964 when the late George Bell joined his father in the feed and seed business, selling seeds, chicks, and lambs to the farmers in the Ogden area.  George then started a business in which he cleaned furnaces with a giant truck-mounted vacuum.  From furnaces, he moved into carpet cleaning, and then sold carpet cleaning products and other cleaning chemicals.  Eventually, the business moved into a building on 25th and Wall Streets in Ogden, in an area, according to Tanner, that was “a wild and wooly location”.  The business moved to 1776 Wall in 1980, which is where the company was located until recently.   

“The old building was inefficient.  It was formerly a meat locker plant and then a produce warehouse, so our inventory was stored in a lot of low-ceilinged, small rooms that used to be meat and produce lockers. In the new building at 1970 Wall, we have big, racked warehouse space and are able to easily move inventory with a forklift.  It’s far more efficient for our employees, which saves money for our customers.  We also have an updated showroom for walk-in business, an expanded repair shop, and a convenient loading area for our customers,” Tanner said.

With its energy-efficient heating and high-efficiency lighting, the new building is “greener” than the old location. “The environmentally friendly aspects of the building complement our corporate culture.  We have been known as the ‘Green Clean Experts’ for a number of years.  We were among the first distributors in Utah to sell environmentally conscious chemicals; we offer ‘right-sized’ receptacle liners that eliminate the use of too much plastic; and most of the paper we sell is green-seal certified.  We are also avid recyclers,” said Tanner.