LESCO history

The company also started publication of a newsletter in 1965 (later known as the Lesco News) and had branched out to cover local, regional, and national trade shows.

In 1974 the company hit a major milestone by formulating its first proprietary fertilizer at a facility in Wellington, Ohio.

To augment the company's burgeoning sales, Fitzgibbon initiated a new program of marketing and distribution in 1976 by stocking a tractor trailer with goods and sending it directly to nearby clients.

To meet rapidly-growing demand, the company opened a manufacturing plant dedicated to formulating sulphur-coated urea fertilizer in 1978—the first facility of its kind in the nation.

The year closed with sales of over $21 million, more than 60 percent higher than 1979's figure.

With a growing workforce, LESCO relocated to Rocky River, Ohio in 1980, where operations expanded to include equipment manufacturing.

After using a wide range of machinery designed and built by other companies, Lakeshore's first piece of lawn care equipment--a rotary spreader--debuted in 1982.

Lesco finished the year with $45 million in sales, about 15 percent higher than 1983's year-end figure of $39.1 million.

Continuing its growth-focused mindset, the company officially changed its name to LESCO, Inc., and went public on NASDAQ in 1984.

In 1985, the company received its first patent for the Jet-Action Spreader Deflector, the component that differentiated the 80# LESCO rotary push spreader from previous models.

In 1987, LESCO was named by Forbes magazine as #66 on the list of Best Small Companies in America.

By the end of 1990 Lesco's sales had risen to $117.5 million and income nearly tripled from the previous year to reach $3 million.

In 1991 Lesco's sales climbed to $131.4 million with net income of about $2.5 million, despite some tense weeks in the first quarter due to raw material price fluctuations and the company's expansion.

In 1993 the company's exposure increased dramatically through an agreement with Home Depot to carry Lesco merchandise in 103 of its stores.

Analysts had estimated total 1994 sales to jump by 20 percent to between $192 and $205 million, with a 40 percent rise in income due in part to the company's Home Depot deal and Service Center expansion.

As projected, Lesco had 138 Service Centers operating in the United States by early 1995 with plans for an additional 35 (for 173 total) in 34 states by year's end.

With more Lesco Superstores on the drawing board, along with increased exposure through Service Centers, Stores-on-Wheels, and Home Depot, Lesco was poised to assert itself further into the turf care marketplace and garner sales in the neighborhood of $290 million for 1996. Based on past experience, Lesco demonstrated more than enough staying power to substantially increase sales and income in 1997 and beyond.

Where Our Story Began – 2001

In its most significant acquisition yet, Deere & Co., purchased LESCO, Inc., in 2007.

Pleasant, Tennessee in 2010, VLS invested millions of dollars in facilities improvements to meet the rising demand for its Waste to Energy services.

Expansion continued to be a foundation for growth in sustainable services, and in 2012, VLS designed an Engineered Fuels manufacturing facility in Gray Court, South Carolina.

In order to recognize the efforts being made to build the business and help customers grow at a local level, SiteOne introduced the President’s Club Awards at the December 2015 Area Managers Meeting.

Our future begins with the strategy of our investors, and in 2017, VLS was acquired by Aurora Capital.

The company launched a new e-commerce site in 2018, allowing turf professionals to order online and have products delivered to the work site.

In 2019, the company made two more acquisitions.

Seeing a growing need for waste-to-energy, VLS opened a grass roots Waste Management facility in January 2020 called VLS Houston adjacent to the Hockley Railcar Cleaning facility.

The 2021 calendar year has already seen the acquisition of Pacific Trans Environmental Services and renamed it VLS San Diego.