THE CENTURY GROUP

History

 

The Century Group was started in 1980 with one location in Valparaiso, Indiana and has grown to six locations in Northern Indiana over a thirty-plus year period.

 

The original location was a modest 1200 square foot garage on Route 2 and Highway 30 in Helen's Parents motel.  Helen;s office was in the bathroom (minus the fixtures) and the counter area was only four feet long.  The counter enterance was so small that if several customers came at once to place an order or to pickup supplies, some of them had to wait outside of the building.  We rented farm barns in the area for inventory and storage  for a long time before buying our current location. Our first delivery truckwas acquired by trading a heating system for it with one of our customers.  It was probably the worst of times to start a business because of the economy and high interest rates, but somehow we survived and can look back on those times and remember fondly.  

 

Centurty Pipe moved to our present location in the mid-1980's, there we have expanded storage capabilities with several new buildings.  In October 1998, we began renovation of our marble manufacturing building to make room for a high-end working showroom.  Our 10,000 square foot warehouse was totally destroyed by a snowstorm on New Year's Day 1999, so attention had to be diverted to reconstruction of the building and away from the showroom.  The new facility, Plus the showroom, were finally finished Spring 2000. "Now we have a new modern facility and we can do a much better job on the service level than in the recent past. It has been tough on our customers and our employees, and we appreciate everyone sticking with us." Jack Hodurek, President, said.

 

Century currently has a 3600 square foot counter area with 3600 square feet of office area and approximately 35,000 square feet of warehouse storage on 4.5 acres.

 

Our locations were strategically selected, positioned to overlap each other at a 20-mile radius, making it possible for one of our stores to distribute needed stock within hours, or in the next day's delivery.  Our customers are always first, even when it comes to store location.  

 

And so we have grown and evolved over the last thirty-plus years, we continue to carry on our commitment to customer satisfaction, quality products, and friendly helpful service at all six of our locations.  Look for a Century Group location near you and experience the kind of selection and helpful sales attitude that other satisfied Century Group customers has come to expect over the past three decades.