Under the stewardship of four generations of the Kieffer family, Kieffer’s Appliances in Lansdale has been serving residents of the Delaware Valley for more than a century and captures well the spirit of family-run enterprises.

Sunday, June 23, was National Family Owned & Operated Business Day, a time to recognize and promote the contributions of family-owned businesses to the economy and local communities. The day aims to raise awareness of the unique qualities that make family-run businesses important.

In business for more than 100 years, Kieffer’s Appliances prides itself on bringing professional service, support, and a broad product selection to an industry dominated by large, impersonal retail chains. Kieffer’s has almost doubled its business in just the last seven years — growth that its banking partner, Firstrust Bank, has helped fuel — and is now the largest independent appliance dealer in the tri-state area.

“Having an adequate line of credit from Firstrust Bank has been paramount to our growth,” said John Kieffer III, 71, who runs the company with his son Jace, 40. The two represent the third and fourth generation of Kieffers to operate the business. “We’ve been Firstrust clients for seven years now. Having a banking partner who understands our business has been critical. It gives us the ability to confidently do any-size job we need to.”

Kieffer said that “the sit-down and the handshake” are key elements that differentiate Firstrust from other banks.

“With other banks, there’s always cash-flow restrictions,” he said. “It’s always, ‘Well, when you have new financials, come back to us next year.’ With Firstrust, I don’t have to explain myself in reports. They set up a borrowing base for us, so when our receivables grow, so does our line of credit. There’s no waiting.”

Kieffer’s Appliances — which now has 110 employees, up from 61 before the pandemic — has thrived through multiple generations and ever-changing economic conditions since its inception as a tire store in 1917. John III’s grandfather, John Sr., founded it as the Girard Rubber Co. in Philadelphia, and to make ends meet as the tire business grew, he delivered blocks of ice for cooling residential iceboxes.

By 1922, the electric refrigerator was introduced, and the ice business became risky. Seeing the trend, John Sr. sought to capitalize on the new craze for appliances.

“He had an ice route, and when they invented the refrigerator, he started losing clients,” said John III. “That’s when he decided to start selling refrigerators.”

With consolidation prevalent throughout the business world and large corporations buying out smaller businesses, Kieffer’s Appliances has been able to grow its footprint amidst a retail landscape that is now dominated by big-box stores.

“Sixty percent of all appliances in the United States are bought through big-box chains,” said Kieffer. “That’s a huge chunk. Where we’ve discovered our niche is looking at the production builder, the general contractor who needs more hand-holding. We handle the delivery and the installation, whereas the Home Depots of the world use subcontractors who are ill-trained to service customers’ unique needs.”

It’s that level of customer service, as well as its multi-generational family ownership, that Kieffer’s Appliances has in common with its banking partner, which boasts its own, nearly-century-long history of fostering trust with customers. National Family Owned & Operated Business Day is a time to celebrate these businesses that cherish family and keep their companies’ ethics and business model to suit how their predecessors ran a business, bringing those values to the corporate world we live in today.

“(Firstrust Bank owner and chairman) Richard Green knows his clients, and he makes sure his people know their clients,” said Kieffer, whose company outfitted Firstrust’s headquarters in Conshohocken with its appliances. “We try to do the same thing.”

Learn more about how Firstrust Bank has been able to help thousands of businesses write their own success stories.