In 1990, KBC embraced the idea of nepotism, and the first of the second generation joined the team. So, late in the 80’s, with the promise of free trade between Canada and the US, the first Canadian branch was opened just outside of Toronto, Ontario. It didn’t take long for the kinks to be worked out and for John and Karel to figure out that the success of the branch in California could be duplicated in other places. With business booming, the catalog grew – more suppliers, products, and pages – and the clients just kept on buying.Īlways looking for new opportunities and challenges, John and Karel bought a supplier’s business in the 80’s in California, just outside of San Francisco, and the first KBC branch was born.

Shortly after, KBC moved further up Eight Mile Road to more spacious and glamorous digs, right next to the most notorious topless bar in Detroit, The Booby Trap, a true Detroit landmark.įinally, after adding onto the building several times, KBC outgrew its home on Eight Mile Road and moved up in the world to Eighteen Mile Road in Sterling Heights, Michigan – its current headquarters. Then, in 1968 with business growing, he hired John Earles as Vice-President and decided that it was time to move to the Motor City permanently with his wife Sheila and daughter Paula. For the next three years, Karel commuted back and forth from London, England to Detroit, Michigan. KBC’s original home was 1,000 square feet of rental space on Eight Mile Road, right next to a Top Hat Hamburger Drive Thru, a Detroit tradition. Its motto became “We Will Not Be Undersold,” and it still is. KBC began as a catalog house selling surplus and English tools to the metalworking industry at a discount.

KBC Tools and Machinery Inc., originally known as “Kabaco Tools” was started in 1965 by Karel Bass in Detroit, Michigan – The Motor City.

Kbc tool