Company History

The History of Bekins Moving and Storage Co. and Bekins Northwest

In 1853, a 23 year old Dutchman named Sjoerd Bekius emigrated to middle America from Holland and soon after met and married Tiertje Berkompas. They established a farm near Holland, Michigan where they successfully raised farm crops and 13 children, eight of which were boys. A binding tie that held the family together through tough times was their constant emphasis on strong family values and hard work. In the children's adult years, each had developed similar inclinations, including a shared dream of seeking opportunity in the west, which they eventually succeeded in doing. They also decided to Americanize their family name by the simple expedient of inverting the "u" to an "n." Hence Bekius became Bekins.

In 1889, the first van and storage company to have the Bekins name was formed in Sioux City, Iowa. The operation was headed by Martin Bekins, the first born son of Sjoerd Bekins, with his brother John Bekins. As the business prospered, a third brother, Teake Bekins, joined the company. As the business continued to thrive, the three Bekins brothers all agreed that expansion was necessary. Once Teake Bekins had learned the business, he was sent off to Omaha, Nebraska to open another branch. Six years after this, Martin Bekins decided that California was his next destination. At that time, California was the site of recent oil discoveries and a newly built transcontinental rail line. The area was also experiencing rapid population growth which meant huge opportunities for entrepreneurs in the moving and storage business there. Realizing this, Martin Bekins and his family moved to Los Angeles to open up the first West Coast Bekins. In those days before the turn of the century, long moves were usually made via rail. Horse drawn vans were mainly used to transport goods/furniture between the train depot and a home and for local moves.

THE FOUNDING OF BEKINS MOVING AND STORAGE CO.- The 1900's
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In 1900, Daniel Bekins, the youngest of the Bekins boys, also became involved in the moving and storage business. He first started with Chicago's Transcontinental Freight Company, and after marrying Bertha Hedden, the daughter of one of the owners of the company in 1901, he decided to become an entrepreneur and expand on his own. Daniel Bekins had heard of the number of opportunities in a booming seaport town located in the northwest corner of America called Seattle and decided to investigate the potential there. Though Daniel Bekins stayed in Seattle only two weeks, he returned to Chicago convinced the growing metropolis could utilize the services of an experienced moving and storage company. With 15 horses and 6 moving vans, Daniel Bekins and his family headed for the Northwest. The year was 1903, when Daniel Bekins officially opened Bekins Moving and Storage Co. The timing of the opening of the moving and storage operation in Seattle was just right. The population of Seattle in 1900 was approximately 81,000, but within the first decade of the century, that number nearly tripled to almost a quarter million. The city had achieved its goal of becoming the premier metropolis of the Northwest.

Seattle's first furniture storage warehouse was soon established by Daniel Bekins on First Avenue near Cherry Street. This storage facility filled quickly. Daniel Bekins purchased an additional storage building on Occidental street and in 1908 built a six story concrete storage warehouse on vacant storage lots at Twelfth and East Madison. Next door Daniel Bekins constructed a frame house for his wagons and stables for his horses. Ten years later, in 1918, he added a third storage warehouse, doubling the total storage space to 100,000 square feet.

THE EXPANSION OF BEKINS MOVING AND STORAGE- 1920's
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In 1921, the company continued to thrive and thus opened up a moving and storage operation in Portland, Oregon. There Daniel Bekins constructed a six-story concrete storage warehouse to satisfy the increased demand from customers for storage space. In 1924, Daniel Bekins expanded the moving and storage company even further by establishing a Bekins' moving and storage operation in Vancouver, B.C. In 1925, Daniel Bekins continued his growth efforts by purchasing a Tacoma moving and storage warehouse, which then was enlarged and modernized. In 1929, Daniel Bekins built a six-story storage warehouse in Spokane, which had become the major trading and transportation center of the Inland Empire. In 1930, Daniel Bekins purchased yet another moving and storage company in Denver Colorado. By the end of the 1930's, Bekins Moving and Storage Co. had established a network of moving and storage offices that spanned from Seattle to Portland, Tacoma, Spokane, Denver and Vancouver B.C.

THE DEPRESSION - 1930's
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Good times of growth and expansion suddenly came to an end when the depression of the 1930's hit. Unemployment soared to 25% of the workforce. As banks failed, people lost their entire savings. There were thousands of individuals looking for work. As with other businesses, the moving and storage companies suffered terribly. Many storage warehouses began to empty, and many moving trucks sat idle. Bekins had to reduce the company's staff to a minimum. Though these were hard times, the Bekins family continued to push forward to overcome the depression and never gave up hope for a brighter future.

DANIEL BEKINS' FIVE SONS TAKE OVER
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Daniel Bekins had five sons who shared his interest in the moving and storage operation. On April 29, 1935, Daniel Bekins sold the moving and storage company to his sons; Glen Bekins, 27; Stanley Bekins, 25; Claude Bekins, 23; Fred Bekins, 20; and Bruce Bekins, 18. With the spirit and optimism of youth, the sons were able to keep the company afloat through the difficult years of the Depression.

THE WAR YEARS
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The company's situation rapidly shifted with the coming of World War II. Suddenly, the war made both storage space and trucks hard to come by. As stated in the Portage 1988 Fall-Winter Magazine issue, "One Federal report indicates that nearly two percent of the total budget invested in World War II military equipment was awarded to Seattle industries at the time when the city population constituted about 1/3 of one percent of the national population." During the war years, Bekins' moving and storage vans created a strong presence with many Americans across the United States. The massive white trucks would carry a variety of wartime equipment, military personnel household goods and much more. The Bekins vans would also carry patriotic slogans on the sides of the trucks, urging the purchase of war bonds. Bekins had moved thousands of families and military personnel, and even transported the entire headquarters of the Ninth Corps Area of the U.S. Army from San Francisco to Fort Douglas and Salt Lake City, Utah.

THE POSTWAR GROWTH - 1950's
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With peace came new challenges. The phenomenal growth the company was experiencing made it possible for Bekins to enlarge its facilities in the Puget Sound area, in Boise, and in Vancouver B.C. In the early 1950's, Bekins purchased new moving and storage offices in Portland and Spokane. In 1954, the five sons of Daniel Bekins, who had been controlling the moving and storage company from the Seattle office decided to divide the company among them. Glenn Bekins assumed control of the Colorado business, and Claude Bekins, Fred Bekins and Bruce Bekins took command of the company servicing Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Stanley Bekins controlled the Vancouver business. Shortly after the divisions, the three Bekins brothers in charge of Washington, Oregon and Idaho expanded their moving and storage operation to Eugene Oregon, Yakima, Pasco and Bellevue, Washington. They also moved into new company headquarters at 95th and Aurora, in Seattle WA.

THE 1960's & 1970's
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In 1962, Bekins Moving and Storage was chosen as the official carrier and transport advisor for the Century 21 World's Fair in Seattle. This event recognized Bekins as the leader in the moving and storage field. In the 1960's, the company continued to open new facilities and expand old structures in Beaverton, Oregon, Bellevue and Everett, Washington and Anchorage, Alaska.

Once again, Bekins Moving and Storage was chosen to be the official mover for the 1974 World's Fair Expo in Spokane, Washington. At this event, Claude Bekins was also honored by the Fair when he was named Commissioner General for the United States. It was in 1974 when Bekins consolidated its Oregon and Idaho operations into the Washington corporation. In 1976, Bruce Bekins passed away after 41 years of service to Bekins. It was in 1978 when the company introduced a new international division, Northwest Forwarders, that would provide customers with complete moving services to and from foreign countries. During this time, Bekins Moving and Storage also received final ICC approval to serve as an interstate mover in Anchorage, Alaska, permitting the company to handle shipments of household goods to and from the city to any of the lower 48 states.

THE FOURTH GENERATION TAKES ON BEKINS MOVING AND STORAGE
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In 1983, Claude Bekins passed on his role as President to his son, Wells Bekins. In 1984, both Claude and Fred Bekins retired from the company after 53 years and 49 years of service respectively. In 1988, Fred Bekins' youngest son, Paul Bekins took over as President. He, like the previous Bekins brothers, had moved up through the ranks learning the moving and storage business from the ground up. While earning a degree in finance from the University of Washington, Paul Bekins worked on the company trucks. He then progressed upward to the Bekins accounting office in 1981; to operations in 1982 where he served as Northwest dispatcher; and then spent two years in sales.

It was at this time in 1988 that the company began to officially use the name Bekins Northwest. The northwest operations of Bekins Moving and Storage had long been referred to as "Bekins Northwest" by the van lines so Paul, working with designers, created the Bekins Northwest logo and began officially using the name Bekins Northwest for the company.

BEKINS NORTHWEST’s NEW AFFILIATION:
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On October 1, 1997, Bekins Northwest joined the Atlas Van Lines family by becoming agents for the fifth largest carrier in the United States. Bekins Northwest is affiliated with and a stockholder of Atlas Van Lines. Atlas Van Lines, Inc., based in Evansville, Indiana, is a nationwide common carrier principally engaged in the transportation of household goods. Atlas Van Lines is the second largest transporter of household goods and special products through some 600 agents across the U.S. and Canada and over 800 agents worldwide. Atlas is symbolized by its highly visible vans with the big, blue, stylized "A," which are seen by millions of Americans each year.

NEW MILLENIUM
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In late 2000, Mike Buttke, then Chief Operations Officer, assumed the duties of President to allow Paul Bekins to focus his energy on the management of the Seattle branch of Bekins Northwest. At the end of 2002 Mike Buttke retired and Paul Bekins again took up the role of President while continuing to manage the Seattle Branch office.

Early in 2004, Karen Bekins, wife of Paul Bekins, assumed the role of President of the company enabling Paul Bekins to again concentrate all of his efforts toward managing the Seattle branch office. Karen graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Civil Engineering. After working for an engineering consulting firm for several years, she changed direction and dedicated her time to her family, volunteer work and Bekins Northwest. Karen has been a Director of Bekins Northwest for many years, and is eminently qualified to lead Bekins Northwest into its second century of service.

In January, 2009, Steve Suhre was promoted to the position of President of Bekins Northwest when Karen Bekins transitioned to the role of Chairman and CEO. Steve Suhre began working in the moving and storage industry in 1980. In 1998 he came to work at Bekins Northwest as an Operations Manager for a short time before he became the General Manager of our Tacoma, WA office. Early in 2004, Steve was again promoted to Executive Vice President of Operations and Military Affairs. From 2004 until this most recent promotion, Steve Suhre has accepted and successfully overcome multiple challenges that have pulled him away from his home base in Tacoma to step in whenever and wherever he was needed. Steve's multitasking abilities coupled with his vast experience in, and exceptional knowledge of the moving & storage business, led Karen and Paul Bekins to choose Steve Suhre as the perfect person to be the next President of the company.

BEKINS NORTHWEST RETURNS to ORIGINAL NAME: BEKINS MOVING and STORAGE Co.
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In December of 2010 the company chose to return to using its original name, Bekins Moving and Storage Co. This was not an easy decision as the company had been doing business as Bekins Northwest for many years and earned a great reputation under this name. In the end it was decided that as the company moved forward they wanted the name to better reflect not just who they are but what they do.

On December 17th, 2010 the company re-launched its website as BekinsMovingandStorage.com and debuted its new logo.

The name and logo may have changed but the company commitment to quality and service remains as strong today as it was in 1903.

THE BEKINS MOVING and STORAGE Co. COMMITMENT TO SERVICE & GROWTH
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Bekins Moving and Storage Co. has paid close attention to business trends within each community. During the past decade, the company has focused additional efforts in safely and conveniently transporting electronic equipment for manufacturers, especially computers, copiers, and medical equipment, each of which requires special handling.

Bekins Moving and Storage Co. is busy preparing for future growth. The objective is to continue to improve upon Bekins position as the premier moving and storage company in the Northwest. This reputation will be sustained by providing the quality of service that ensures Bekins is the first choice when it comes time for families and businesses to move.

It has been over 100 years since the first Bekins' horse drawn van climbed up a cobble stone Seattle street. Today, huge Bekins vans which can have a combined truck and trailer length of more than 65 feet, are pulled over mountain passes across the United States by tractors that generate the power of hundreds of horses.
The moving and storage business has changed in many ways since Bekins Moving and Storage Co. / Bekins Northwest was formed in 1903, but over the years, the Bekins philosophy has remained the same: the ultimate objective is to "exceed customer's expectations of high quality service." Bekins Moving and Storage Co. has been quick to respond to customer's needs, and will continue doing so in the years to come.

BEKINS MOVING and STORAGE Co. LOCATIONS
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Bekins Moving and Storage Co. maintains 6 branch locations: Seattle/Mountlake Terrace, WA., Tacoma, WA., Yakima, WA., Pasco, WA., Spokane, WA., Colorado Springs, CO. and has its Corporate Office in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.