Our History

A history of innovation and leadership

Marcone was founded in 1932 by Harry Markow, a young St. Louis entrepreneur with an idea for selling rebuilt vacuum cleaners’ door-to-door. Given his timing — it was the height of The Great Depression — the product would appeal to customers who wanted clean floors at an affordable price.

By the time World War II began, Harry had moved on to selling washer and dryer parts. In 1946, he was joined in the business by his son, Norman (Bud) Markow. Driven by a commitment to customer service and convenience, they became the first appliance parts company to secure a toll-free 1-800 number.

In 1974, Bud’s son, Mitchell became the third generation of Markows to join Marcone. Over the next two decades, the company, now known as Marcone Appliance Parts, established a reputation as a “best-in-class” OEM appliance part distributor.

In 1998, the company launched Marcone Services Association, a trade association that would support the appliance service industry with training and employee benefit support. A year later, Mitchell was named CEO, and Jim Souers, Marcone’s Vice President of Technologies, became President and COO. Under their leadership, the company continued to expand through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions. Sales reached $300 million in 2011 and $500 million just eight years later.

Jim took the reigns as Marcone CEO in [YEAR]. He and his team led the company in building the technology infrastructure that has driven the company’s efficiency and enabled it to scale its operations. Over the past decade, the company has expanded its distribution network and bolted HVAC, plumbing and other residential and commercial markets to its platform.

Marcone continues to grow its share of the market through acquisitions of proprietary brands, expansion of OEM relationships and introduction of artificial intelligence and other next-generation warehouse management technologies.

Through it all, we remain committed to providing solutions that support our customers’ and vendors’ success.