Acme Tool's Daniel Kuhlman Dies at 82
Daniel Kuhlman, known for catapulting Acme Tools to being one of the premier tools and equipment distributors in the Midwest, has died.
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| Daniel Kuhlman, who served for mor than 50 years as president of Acme Tools, died at 82 on Sept. 9. Here, he is at the Acme Tools store in Grand Forks, North Dakota during the company's 75th anniversary in 2023. |
Kuhlman died Monday, Sept. 9, after a lengthy battle with lung cancer. He was 82.
For more than 50 years Kuhlman served as Acme Tools president. Under his guidance, the family-owned company would grow to being a major distributor with 10 retail stores and more than 100,000 products offered online at AcmeTools.com.
His son Steven and Paul are the current co-owners serving as president and president of merchandise operations.
According to his obituary, he took immense pride in his work, something he learned from his parents George and Clarice Kuhlman, who started the company Acme Electric, a small electric motor repair shop, in 1948.
Kuhlman started working for his father in 1962, as one of the first 10 employees. Celebrating 75 years in business in 2023, Acme Tools now has more than 600 employees.
Over that time, employees said that no matter the size, it has always remained a family-owned atmosphere. Kuhlman was lauded for his role as a good listener and teacher who took the time to offer advice or help solve a problem to get the job done right.
It is Kuhlman himself who is credited for leading the company into tool sales, which eventually sparked its stratospheric growth into being one of the Midwest’s largest tool/equipment distributors.
The first Acme Tools store opened in Grand Forks, North Dakota, which Kuhlman called home. Operations were expanded in Bismark, Fargo, Minot and Williston, North Dakota.
In addition to retail, Kuhlman developed a tool catalog that was mailed to millions of customers and grew into the company’s mail order division in the mid-1980s.
He also created the Tool Crib of the North brand, which became known nationally and was used to launch the company’s first e-commerce website in 1999 that was ultimately sold the same year to serve as the tool portion of Amazon.com.
Always looking for new ways to advance the company, Kuhlman invested in new e-commerce technology in 2010, relaunched as AcmeTools.com, and established Acme Tools as a leading authorized online retailer of tools and equipment.
The growth of the online business was supported with construction of a distribution center in Grand Forks and a second in Burnsville, Minnesota.
Kuhlman is also credited with starting Acme Rents in 199 and Acme Equipment in 2013 to provide larger equipment to customers. Under the company’s business model, Acme Rents caters to the construction contractors and operations that prefer to rent instead of purchasing larger, expensive equipment. Machines are rented out for three or four months or even an entire season.
For Kuhlman, Grand Forks was home, and he was known for his support of the community. Recently, the Daniel and Marilyn Kuhlman Family Fund contributed $500,000 to the construction of the Grand Forks Children’s Museum. The family fund has also supported other arts, music and environmental initiatives.
His mornings were spent enjoying breakfast with friends as part of “The Breakfast Club” and he was a longtime supporter of the Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks.
In addition to his wife, Kuhlman is survived by his children and 10 grandchildren and two siblings.
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