MasterBlend Update
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Jordan King, one of the new owners of MasterBlend. He, along with his father Tom King and mother Karen King have finalized the purchase of MasterBlend chemical company as of August 26, 2019. As many have heard, MasterBlend had fallen on hard times over the last few years. Production and order fulfillment began to slow to a near stop through 2018. In early 2019, it became clear the only option to keep the brand viable was to seek out a financial backer or sell the company entirely. Enter the Kings.
ARCS: For those that do not know of the King family, tell us a little about your background.
JK: We have been in the professional cleaning world for a little over a decade, since roughly 2008. Tom, while still working in sales & marketing for the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co., founded our first business- Sani-Bright Carpet Cleaning. Everything started from just 3 janitorial accounts he purchased off Craigslist for $1,000. About 6 months later he purchased our first truck-mount, a used Bane Clean unit we had mounted in an old Ford Econoline. Around 2010, after studying at Purdue University I began working for the business and within another year we had grown into a multi-truck carpet cleaning company. My mom had been with Chase Bank as a branch manager for many years and around 2012 she left the banking industry to join the business. She really understood how to bring excellent customer care to high-end clients and with her onboard the business grew exponentially.
In 2014, we made major investments in our area rug cleaning service. We began doing business as Oriental Rug Cleaning of Indianapolis and in 2015 I designed and built our rug washing facility. We continue to see consistent growth in area rug cleaning and care.
Also, in 2015, mom and dad purchased a small, local rug and carpet store in our town of Zionsville, IN, now known as RG Decor. They immediately brought in hard surfaces and a more diverse offering of rugs and carpet. This quickly grew into what it is today- a 10,000 square foot showroom that offers custom USA made furniture, decor, rugs, & flooring. We have 5 degreed interior designers on staff and have had the honor of working on some amazing projects. My mom, Karen, deserves all the credit for this one. She is the secret sauce to everything we do at RG Decor. It’s been so great seeing her vision come to life.
ARCS: What made you interested in getting involved with MasterBlend?
JK: I’ve been a longtime user of MasterBlend products. I believe there are a few products, especially rug cleaning products, which really give us the consistent results our cleaning business needed.
When it became clear that MasterBlend was going out of business, my dad and I felt it would be worth the trip out to Denver to talk with Larry & Brian Haack. We initially thought we could purchase a few formulas and have them made for us and our friends. However, after speaking with Larry and Brian it became clear that there was a real play for us to come in, buy the brand, and move it forward- keeping the legacy alive.
ARCS: What’s next for MasterBlend?
JK: We will be at The Experience in Las Vegas this month, booth #424. If we haven’t met, we’d love to meet you. We will have some exciting things to show off at our booth during that event.
ARCS: There’s also that big lingering question, isn’t there? When will people be able to order MasterBlend products again?
JK: Trust we are working as quickly as possible to fire up production and get these products back to market as soon as possible. It’s important for people to know, production prior to our involvement had stopped entirely and backstock was depleted. There was a heartbeat, but you heard it about every 10 minutes. If it was as simple as flipping the manufacturing light switch to ON, we’d have done it already. Things didn’t get to this point overnight and it will take a few weeks to get things back on track.
Right now, the best thing a MasterBlend user can do is continue to contact your distributor and request they restock MasterBlend products. We will open ordering within the next couple of weeks to begin taking orders and products will ship as soon as they’re available.
Stay up to date with MasterBlend by following our Facebook page, we will continue to release updates as they’re available. Until then, keep requesting MasterBlend be restocked wherever you purchase your chemicals. Our phone number is still the same, 1-800-525-9644 or email us at info@masterblendindiana.com.
Thank you for your continued support and patience during this transition period, we truly appreciate you!
