In January of 1969 Waste King Corp, operating multiple factory service centers for household and commercial kitchen repair and appliances, decided to close all of their service locations. Two young men Bill Galbraith and Don Swanson decided to try their hand at operating the Detroit location on their own. On May 1, 1969 the two managers, combined their first names and formed Bildon Appliance Parts & Service. Bildon was originally formed as a partnership, which employed 4 employees and serviced primarily household appliances.
Through the Waste King Corporation’s line of commercial food waste disposals, Bildon Parts and Service was introduced to the commercial kitchen repair side of the industry. Realizing the major growth potential on the commercial side of the business, Bildon Parts and Service signed its first commercial food equipment service and parts distribution contract in January of 1971. Building on past experience more manufacturers were added and the hot side of commercial kitchen repair became more and more a part of the company’s growth.
In spring of 1996 Bill and Don decided to back away from the daily operation of the business. Operations were taken over by their two sons Gary Galbraith and John Swanson. The Company moved from its old location of 25 years to a new larger facility in August 1999.
In early 2000 and responding to customer requests, Bildon Parts and Service made the decision to begin service on the cold side of the industry. Refrigerant parts and service was a new aspect of the business that fit perfectly with cooking equipment repair service. And in even more recent years, equipment installation has been added to our commercial kitchen equipment services.
Bildon now represents more than 50 manufactures, has 26 employees, and has been a member of CFESA since 1973. In May of 2009, John Swanson was named President of the association. Bildon has developed a solid reputation in the commercial kitchen repair industry and continues to look forward to expand on the vision the two young men had in May of 1969.