Our History

The original discount retailer.

Claude and Bert Blain pioneered the idea of a discount supply store open to the public in order to fulfill their mission of providing quality products to the hardworking and rural farmers of Wisconsin at an affordable price.

William Claude Blain and Norman Albert "Bert" Blain founded Blain's Farm & Fleet back in June of 1955. During this time period, legislation only allowed the sale of discounted goods to other businesses. The law also said that someone who owned 5 or more engines was considered a fleet operator and therefore a business. Both Bert and Claude figured that farmers would own at least 5 engines, so this led to the idea of opening the first Blain's Farm & Fleet retail store. As you can imagine, this law played a major role in helping shape the company name. Bert and Claude already owned a farm implements and auto parts business, and knew they could offer more products to their existing customers. Therefore, the idea of expanding their product offerings to their rural, hardworking customer base was an easy decision to make, and the First Blain's Farm & Fleet opened in Janesville Wisconsin.

Since our humble beginnings in that first 1,000 square foot store, Blain's Farm & Fleet has grown and expanded to four states within the Midwest, each store offering over 150,000 items across every category imaginable. Whatever you need, Blain's has it, and we brought it to the public first. In fact, Blain's Farm & Fleet may have very well been the first discounted retail store to open in the United States. Giants like Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Shopko didn't start until the early 1960's.