1830
Col. Thomas Smith began retailing family clothing and basic grocery items to local Ontario residents.
1855
Col. Thomas Smith was offered free crown land located in Clifford, ON, where W.C. Smith has called home to this day.
1890
Col. Thomas Smith retired. His son, Sidney Smith took over and changed the name to Sidney Smith & Co.
1930
Sidney Smith (seated) retired. His son, William Harvey Smith, took over, during this time the business celebrated its Centennial year.
1945
William Harvey Smith began selling goods nationally to other retailers. He renamed the business W.H. Smith Wholesale.
1969
William Harvey Smith retired. His son, William (Bill) Campbell Smith, took over the business. He discontinued the retailing aspect and focused primarily on wholesale distribution.
1976
William (Bill) Campbell Smith renamed the business W.C. Smith Wholesale Distributors Inc. He expanded the business to include several warehouses throughout the village of Clifford, ON.
1987
W.C. Smith built a new warehouse in order to consolidate all locations, products, and staff. The product line was expanded to include fireworks, the company became a national distributor.
2005
With additional growth over 10 years, the company expanded to include a new addition to the warehouse.
2006
As the company continued to reach new goals, W.C. Smith was able to expand again to include a second addition to the warehouse.
2007
With continued growth, the company expanded again to include a second warehouse located on-site.
2010
Over the course of a few years, W.C. Smith continued to see yearly growth and expanded again to include a third addition to the original warehouse.
2012
An expansion was added to accommodate the growing demand of products. Allowing us to better serve our customers with over 50,000 sq ft.
2022
Additional warehouse expansion, bringing W.C. Smith to 100,000+ distribution centre.
2023
William (Bill) Campbell Smith continues to run the operations to date. Today W.C. Smith wholesales at a national level, with customers in all provinces and territories.
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Our Story
A family owned and operated business, W.C. Smith has been in business for over 175 years. The Smith family first launched the business in 1830. Col. Thomas Smith began retailing family clothing as well as basic grocery items to local Ontario residents. During this time the store motto was simple, “Committed to Customers.”
Over the years the company expanded and the founder, Col. Thomas Smith, was offered free crown land in the heart of Clifford, Ontario. With this move he was able to expand the business and reach more customers. Col. Thomas Smith retired in 1890 and his son, Sidney, took over the family business. During this time, Sidney Smith, operated the business as Sidney Smith & Co.
In 1930 the business celebrated its Centennial year. Around this same time, Sidney Smith retired and handed over the business to his son William Harvey. In 1945 William Harvey began to source and sell goods nationally to other retailers through the mail order system. The business was renamed “W.H. Smith Wholesale.”
William Harvey ran the company until he retired in 1969, his then 26-year-old son, William (Bill) Campbell Smith took over the day-to-day operations. During this time, they experienced huge success with the wholesaling section of the business and William (Bill) Campbell decided to discontinue the retailing aspect and focus primarily on wholesale distribution.
In 1976 William (Bill) Campbell renamed the business W.C. Smith Wholesale Distributors Inc., the name it currently operates under. By this time the business had expanded rapidly over the years to include several warehouses throughout the village of Clifford. With a need for a bigger space W.C. Smith decided to build a new warehouse at the edge of Clifford to consolidate all the locations, products, and staff. Since then, the company has expanded multiple times to include additional warehouse space.
Today W.C. Smith Wholesale Distributors Inc. wholesales at a national level, with customers right across Canada. Their company motto has since evolved to “Committed to Customer Satisfaction.” W.C. Smith is continually dedicated to its new and exciting customers and prides itself on providing the utmost customer care to every one of their customers.