A few months later and just before Christmas 1982, the family was on its way South for a new start in Prospect, an eastern suburb of Louisville. One of the first things on Bill's to-do list was to find an office to call home; someplace that wouldn't be much of a commute. Located about five miles down the road, past a few scenic horse farms and in a direction opposite of where all the morning traffic would be headed, he rented what was once used as a tack room at the Goshen General Store. Built in 1859, the Goshen General Store has been in continuous operation for 160 years and it has as much character as it does history. This new Sunrise office was staffed with two or three secretaries and would serve as the company's communications hub for the next 27 years. The company's warehousing and service office during this time was located at 2900 Fern Valley Rd. next door to the old Paramount Pickle Plant near Interstate 65.
As the years passed, Bill's son, Ben Lancaster worked part time and then full-time in the business. At ten years old he started in the garage on weekends and during summer breaks repairing diaphragm assemblies with his father. After high school and college, he was making sales and service calls, and also worked full time in the Service Department repairing tools and serving customers. Before long, he was made responsible for various sales territories and managed both retail and industrial accounts. Eventually, Ben was named Operations Manager and served in that capacity until 2012 when he assumed the role of Vice President after Bill began having some health issues.
At the close of 2009, a public warehouse that managed all of Sunrise's inventory succumbed to the great recession and abruptly closed its doors. This left Bill and Ben scrambling to find a new home for 215 skids of nails and staples. After some searching and with a bit of luck, they found a building in the Bluegrass Commerce Park in Jeffersontown, KY that would be a perfect fit. By the second week of the new year, they were all moved in and running full steam ahead. Within two years of this move to Jeffersontown, the little office in Goshen was consolidated into the facility on Bunsen Way and to this day we serve customers with pride from our central location.
