In 1945, Warren Farr Senior, established wholesale distribution sales at Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation, then a large installing and servicing refrigeration contractor. The very beginning of this family business, however, goes all the way back to E.W. Farr and the year 1921.

Prior to Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation, Warren Senior was no stranger to the world of mechanical refrigeration. Warren was introduced to this new and exciting technology by his father Earnest Wightman Farr (known as E.W. Farr). In 1921, E.W. Farr opened The Kelvinator Cleveland Company to sell appliances, including residential and commercial refrigerators.

These refrigerators replaced the “ice box” commonly used for food preservation. These early refrigerators were “split systems” (similar to today’s split system air conditioners) with the “refrigerator box” located in the kitchen and the compressor located in the basement.

In 1923, a Kelvinator refrigerator cost $750 which is roughly equivalent to $9,000 today! Undoubtedly, the reason that the business was located on Cleveland’s prosperous Euclid Avenue was to be close to “Millionaire’s Row” where Rockefeller, Carnegie and other barons of business maintained homes.

Warren Senior began his refrigeration career while working for his father at The Kelvinator Cleveland Company and attending the much respected Kelvinator Refrigeration Service Training School.

After attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and after his intensive refrigeration service training, Warren Senior converted The Kelvinator Cleveland Company into Farr Refrigeration Services which successfully grew and then relocated into expanded commercial space at 1127 Carnegie Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was during this move that the company was renamed to Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation. From its early beginnings, Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation was founded on the principles of the highest possible customer service combined with the best efficiencies of the industry. The earliest known employee handbook provides the following mission statement for all employees:

“It is our job at Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation to render the highest type of service at the lowest possible price. Such a policy will make it possible for the Company to give its customers, employees, and stockholders the highest possible return.”

This is a philosophy that continues today in our current WholeServer mission of “Service Speed, Expertise, and Relationships.” Soon Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation become one of the nation’s largest refrigeration installation and service contracting companies. An early company brochure proudly states Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation completing over 15,000 service calls annually, driving over 125,000 miles (five times around the globe) each year, and providing a complete inventory of over 20,000 parts to 85 dealer partners.

In 1946, Warren Senior was elected as the first president of the National Association of Refrigeration Contractors (NARC) and began a year of traveling around the country to fulfill NARC’s mission:

“NARC is dedicated to the development of standards and business ethics and workmanship that will keep the level of refrigeration contracting at the highest plane.”

Being elected NARC’s first president and dedicating time to develop and spread the highest ethic and workmanship, was a job well suited to Warren Senior. He believed that the success of the refrigeration industry depended on the highest standards and he ran his business with this in mind. Of course, high standards required the very best training programs. Providing the very best available training and providing it to the HVAC/R industry, is still a core value at RSC today.

In 1953, Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation had again outgrown its facilities and moved to 701 St. Clair Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. This new facility was designed to support the future company as Refrigeration Maintenance Corporation grew its wholesale distribution business with the addition of the Carrier® air conditioning product line. By 1961, the company had become 100% wholesale and was renamed Refrigeration Sales Corporation. The new facilities added significant warehousing space and a larger wholesale parts counter.

Many former RSC employees who ran the service contracting business within RSC formed some of the area’s largest mechanical contracting firms and became long and trusted customers of RSC. One of the most notable of these companies is The Brewer Garrett Company.

RSC today is still primarily a wholesaler, but we define our mission as much more than just providing the right inventory at wholesale prices. RSC today is still dedicated to our customers. As a WholeServer, all of us are focused on the very best service delivered with the highest efficiencies for the benefit of customers, employees, and stockholders. In a world that has seen massive change since the early 1920’s, we at Refrigeration Sales Corporation still understand the value of “standards, business ethics, and workmanship that will keep the level of refrigeration contracting at the highest plane.”