Universal Purchasing Association was born out of the Industrial Laundry and Uniform businesses in 1995. When Allan Fowler, company President, noticed a trend toward consolidation which was hurting the competitiveness of smaller, independent businesses in the industry he decided to take action. Fowler wanted to keep the playing field level and find a way to help independent businesses become strong and continue growing in their markets despite the trend toward national chains.

 

Fowler brought together independent businesses in the industrial laundry and uniform industry to form a buying group whose volume would be viewed as a whole, thus receiving the discounts reserved for high volume dealers. He negotiated with top vendors to accept each member of the group based on the combined volume and Universal Purchasing Association was created.

Today Universal Purchasing Association has grown to become the largest independent group of its kind with over 100 million dollars per year in total estimated volume.

In addition to industrial laundry and uniform dealers, Universal Purchasing Association has members that are direct sellers of: executive apparel, casual apparel, wearable and promotional products, industrial laundries, public safety uniforms, formal wear, and medical uniforms. It has numerous preferred vendors and more direct sellers than any other buying group.

 

Although Universal Purchasing Association has grown, it's mission has stayed simple: "Help independent businesses grow, be competitive, increase their buying power, and at the same time increase profits"