C B & K Supply can trace its root to five brothers who emigrated from Russia around the turn of the last century. When they arrived at Ellis Island in New York to become U.S. residents, immigration authorities named several of the brothers Cohen and the others Katz. Seeking a fresh start in their lives and new business opportunities, the brothers moved to Janesville, where they founded a scrap recycling company. The brothers Cohen and Katz began reprocessing iron, steel, aluminum, glass, burlap, cardboard, and other assorted products of the early 1900s. Business records dating back to 1907 make C B & K Supply one of Janesville’s oldest family owned businesses. In 1928 the company was incorporated as Cohen Brothers & Katz.
As Janesville grew, the demand for industrial materials increased. Long time customers requested Cohen Brothers & Katz to carry steel, plumbing and industrial products. As a result the focus of Cohen Brothers & Katz began to change from recycling to wholesale supply. Starting in the plumbing field in the 1940s and evolving thru the 1950s, and by the end of the 1960s Cohen Brothers & Katz had made the transition to wholesale supply, and changed its name to C B & K Supply, Inc.
Today, C B & K Supply, Inc. is known throughout south central Wisconsin and northern Illinois as a premier supplier of quality plumbing and industrial products, as well as hand tools. Traditionally C B & K Supply has served customers within 150-mile radius of Janesville including Madison; Milwaukee; Rockford, Il; and the northwestern Chicago suburbs. From plumbing and mechanical contractors to the largest industrial facilities in the Janesville market C B & K strives to be the primary source for all their requirements.
C B & K Supply maintains an inventory in excess of 40,000 products in its 90,000 square foot office-warehouse facility on North Parker Drive in Janesville. C B & K Supply also has a 4,000 square foot showroom offsite in a shopping center about a quarter of a mile away, also on North Parker Drive. In October 2002, the company opened its first branch in Madison. The 25,000 square foot warehouse is located near the Oscar Meyer plant on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Evolution is constant change. C B & K is constantly changing, investigating new products and adapting to the ever changing needs of its valued customers, providing the latest advances in products and technology