Mission Statement
Our Staff
How It All Began and Evolved
Everett J Koenig, Founder 1915-2004

Flat Lands Supply was founded in 1966 by Everett J Koenig in Venedocia, Ohio, a small Welsh community located in Jennings Township in Van Wert County in Northwest Ohio.

After teaching school for a number of years and then working several years for National Brands Supply, Everett decided to start his own business in Venedocia at the age of 50. He named his business Flat Lands Supply, due to the rich, flat farmland found in the area.

Flat Lands opened in the old Uhl Grocery Store building on Main St. Everett ran a one-man operation. He would be up early in the mornings to do bookwork, then head out on the road in an old station wagon to call on customers. When he returned home in the evenings, there was more bookwork to be done.

In the early days when Everett would be gone during the day, contractors would stop by the Koenig home, pick up a key to the store, go get their supplies, jot down what they were getting, and return the key.

In the early 1970's, Everett purchased an old grain elevator, seed house, and quonset building located at the north end of the village to use for warehouse space as the business began to flourish. Everett added a few employees around this time also.

In 1976, Everett's son, Jerry joined the business full-time.

A new 5000 square foot facility was constructed in 1981 on Williams St in Venedocia, near the other warehouse buildings.

In 1989, Jerry took over the business so Everett could enjoy retirement, but still drop in on a regular basis to be sure that everything was running smoothly.

In 1992, a second store was opened in Van Wert, Ohio on Market St. After two years of operating both stores, the difficult decision was made to close the Venedocia store and operate solely out of Van Wert, where there was a noticeably larger amount of walk-in customer traffic than in the fairly remote Venedocia store. In the first years of operation, the general procedure had always been that the contractors would place an order and usually have it delivered to the job site. Therefore, it didn't really matter where the store was located.

Flat Lands was once again on the move in March 1998. In just four business days, the entire store was moved from Market St its current location at 1220 E Jackson St, overlooking historic Marsh Foundation and Lincoln Highway. The 26,000 square foot facility features a spacious showroom, large counters, and wide self-serve aisles. The building also includes a large warehouse with three truck docks and one ground level overhead door.

On April 27, 2004, Everett J Koenig passed away at the age of 88 at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St Marys. Mr. Koenig was born on November 15, 1915 in Auglaize County, OH to Emil and Bertha (Sunderman) Koenig. On August 10, 1939 he married Dorothy Dickman, of Otterbein of St Marys.

Mr. Koenig was the father of four children; Beverly Koenig of Napoleon, OH, Deanna (A. Paul) Hoadley of Charlevoix, MI, Karen (John) Koenig-Herman of Tipp City, OH, and Jerry (Laura) Koenig of Venedocia, OH. He also had two grandchildren; Daniel (Vanessa) Hoadley of Bozeman, MT and Lisa (Mike) Watson of Lakewood, CO.

Mr. Koenig was one of five children...a sister, Joanne (Myron) Katterheinrich of New Knoxville, OH; and three brothers Paul (Janet) Koenig, Daryl (Louise) Koenig, both of New Bremen, OH and David Koenig, who died in World War II.

Mr. Koenig had lived most of his adult life in Venedocia, OH and had recently moved to Otterbein of St Marys, OH. He was a member of the Salem Presbyterian Church of Venedocia and a member of the Venedocia Lions Club.

Mr. Koenig was a graduate of New Bremen High School in 1933 and of The Ohio State University in 1938. He taught Vocational Agriculture in Van Wert County for a number of years.

Mr. Koenig owned and operated Koenig Home Hardware in Venedocia and founded Flat Lands Supply in Venedocia, now located in Van Wert, OH. His knowledge of the electrical and plumbing business will be missed, but his legacy lives on in the form of Flat Lands Supply.