Van Dyne Crotty
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Van Dyne Crotty Inc. was a uniform laundering and rental company in the United States, trading from 1935 to 2006. Founded by Lloyd Van Dyne and Fergus Crotty, on January 1, 1935, during the height of the Great Depression, the company grew from a $500 loan into one of the premier privately owned uniform companies in the United States. Van Dyne Crotty remained a family-owned and operated business, run by Van Dyne and Crotty, and then by 2 further generations of the Crotty family, until its sale in 2006 to Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq: CTAS).
In 1934, Lloyd Van Dyne and Fergus Crotty met at a small business on Richard Street in Dayton, OH, that washed rags for local gas stations and industrial customers. Van Dyne and Crotty helped run the office and sales for the company, and within a year decided they could do a better job running the business on their own. On New Year's Day, 1935, Van Dyne and Crotty secured a $500 loan from their landlady and purchased the business, renaming it "Van Dyne-Crotty."
First Generation
Van Dyne and Crotty grew the business over the next three decades, despite several large setbacks. During World War II, the company's only plant had to be shut down, due to wartime restrictions. Just a few years later, a fire destroyed the entire facility. Van Dyne and Crotty continued to operate a lean and successful business, however. Lloyd Van Dyne was known for saying “you have to hit rock bottom before you can go up.”
Van Dyne and Crotty expanded the business by growing their clientele from full service gas stations to manufacturing plants like NCR, Delco Products, Frigidaire and the numerous tool and die shops that supported the automotive manufacturing industry in Southwest Ohio; and later by introducing new innovations to the industry, such as the first standardized industrial wiping cloth, and new advances in dry cleaning technology.
In the space of a few decades, Van Dyne and Crotty were able to grow their initial $500 investment into a $2–3 million business. Van Dyne-Crotty is also credited as being the first company east of the Mississippi River to rent an entrance mat, also known as a "walk off mat." Lloyd Van Dyne died on April 28, 1962, and Fergus Crotty followed just months later. The company was passed on to Fergus' three sons: Robert, Frank and L. William Crotty.