Our History
1896 - Spalding Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company is Founded
Spalding Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company is founded by Peter E Spalding, the great grandfather of L...Read more
1925 - Greg and Peter Spalding Join
Peter’s two son’s Greg Spalding and Peter Spalding II join the family business....Read more
1957 - Peter Spalding Dies
The founder, Peter Spalding dies at the age of 88. Under his guidance the firm expanded its physical...Read more
1958 - Bill Tate Joins Spalding's Laundry
Bill Tate, Peter Spalding II, son-in-law, joins Spalding’s Laundry as a Supervisor in the retail d...Read more
1968 - Bill is Promoted to Executive VP
Bill is promoted to Executive Vice President and sales manager for laundry, dry cleaning, and rug cl...Read more
1970 - Bill is Promoted to President. Changes the Business.
Bill is promoted to President and changes the business from a retail dry cleaning and home laundry c...Read more
1979 - Bill Leaves Spalding's and Starts Universal Uniforms
Bill leaves Spalding’s and establishes Universal Uniforms as a uniform rental company. He does not...Read more
1980 - Bill Recruits Don Dimmitt
Bill recruits Don Dimmitt, a Production Manager at Spalding’s to join him at Universal Uniforms…...Read more
1988 - The Operation Outgrows the Facility
The operation outgrew the facility and after an extensive city wide search, the property just down t...Read more
1990 - Company Split Into Two Divisions
The company is split into two divisions, Industrial and Denim, both with separate management teams a...Read more
1994 - Tom Austin Joins Universal
Tom Austin, Bill Tate’s son in law, joins the company as an Engineer in the Denim Division, and ad...Read more
1997 - NAFTA Passed
When Congress passed the North American Free Trade Agreement, it signaled the end of American made a...Read more
1998 - The Business Changes
As the denim business was declining, the uniform business continued to grow. The denim facility had ...Read more
1999 - Tom Austin Promoted
Tom Austin is promoted to President of Universal Uniforms. The first ironer was installed in former ...Read more
2000 - New Plant Design
The linen business was growing quickly and a new plant design was laid out with Gardner Machinery Co...Read more
2002 - Universal Uniform Sells
An end of an era, Bill Tate was preparing for full retirement and the family decided to sell the uni...Read more
2003 - National Linen Closes Louisville Plant
National Linen Service, decided to close their Louisville processing facility and sold all the custo...Read more
2005 - National Linen Closes Lexington Plant
National Linen Service, decided to close their Lexington service center and sold the customer contra...Read more
2006 - Property Purchased
Universal Linen Service purchased the adjacent 4 acre, 50,000 square foot property, formerly the uni...Read more
2006 - Universal Linen Profiled in Business First
Universal Linen and Tom Austin are profiled in Business First of Louisville....Read more
2007 - New Equipment
Installation of the new equipment for the plant began in July....Read more
2008 - Redesigning the Workflow - New Branding
After a difficult start up period of 6 months in the new plant, several of the large pressing equipm...Read more
2009 - 1803 Property Purchased
Universal purchased the adjacent 1803 property which had been leased from Universal Uniforms since 2...Read more
2010 - Expanding Service Area
The company’s focus was to improve quality and cleanliness with a shift to high performance output...Read more
2011 - New Systems Installed
Universal opens their lodging focused processing center in Louisville, Ky, along with the addition o...Read more
2012 - Universal Receives the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation
Universal Linen Service receives HEALTHCARE LAUNDRY ACCREDITATION: The industry’s highest rating o...Read more
2013 - Universal Acquires American Towel
Universal Linen acquired the assets of American Towel in Nashville, TN, and added a new processing c...Read more
2015 - Technology Updates
Completed our new corporate training room and conference center in the Louisville corporate office. ...Read more
2015 - Acquired CI Linen Service
Acquired CI Linen and expanded service area into Indianapolis, IN....Read more
2015 - Acquired Coyne Textiles in London, KY
Acquired the linen business, plant, and equipment in London, KY from Coyne textiles when they went i...Read more
2017 - Acquired new building in Winchester, TN
Acquired a new 60,000 square ft building in Winchester, TN in March 2017...Read more
About Universal Linen
