Blain's Farm
Blain Supply, Inc., doing business as Blain's Farm & Fleet, is a regional, family-owned chain of 45 farm supply retail stores in four states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan) of the Upper Midwest region of the United States. Blain's Farm & Fleet was an early adopter of "buy online, pick up at the store" in which all stores provide a drive-thru pick-up experience so online orders can be retrieved without consumers having to leave the car. History The company was founded in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1955 by brothers W. C. "Claude" Blain and N. A. "Bert" Blain. Similarly-named Mills Fleet Farm was also founded in 1955 by Blain family friends. The two families agreed to use similar names and have historically operated in different territories. Each Blain's retail store is part of Farm and Fleet Stores which operate in four divisions by region, while the distribution is handled by a separate entity, Blain Supply. The business is a family-owned, privately held corporation run ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Onalaska, Wisconsin
Onalaska ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,803 at the 2020 census. It borders the larger La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is a part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Area. Onalaska is built on a slightly elevated ridge above the Black River. Natural areas include both river bottom land and high, heavily wooded, scenic Hill, bluffs. A man-made reservoir at the city's western edge is known as Lake Onalaska. Onalaska is known as "The Sunfish Capital of the World." History The original village (now city) was platted by Thomas G. Rowe (New York) and John C. Laird (Pennsylvania) in 1851. In its early days, lumbering and related industries served as a basis for its economy. According to local legend, the city's name comes from the 1799 poem ''The Pleasures of Hope'', by the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell (poet), Thomas Campbell, which makes one mention of "Oonalaska's shore" in a passage about the remote reaches of a sailor's exp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portage, Michigan
Portage is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States. The population was 48,891 at the 2020 census. It is the smaller of the two main cities included in the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 261,670 in 2020. History Portage was settled in 1830, and incorporated as a city in 1963. On May 7, 2024, the city was struck by a high-end EF2 tornado, causing significant damage to homes and properties. A FedEx distribution center was severely damaged after the tornado caused part of the roof to collapse. Over 500 buildings were damaged, with 60 being destroyed, including a strip mall. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Austin Lake is in the southeast part of the city and was named for Moses Austin, who had emigrated to Portage Township from Genesee County, New York, in 1833. A settlement grew on the north shore of the lake, known as Austin or Aus ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sporting Goods
Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since the performer must use a sport equipment, it can also be serve for protection. History and development of sports Historically, many sports players have developed their own sporting equipment over time. For instance, the use of a football dates back to ancient China, between the Warring States period (476–221 BC) and the Han Dynasty (220 AD). As football remains the most popular sport in the 21st century, the material of the ball has completely changed over the centuries; from being made out of animal skin, to being lined with multiple layers of polyester or cotton. As the sporting equipment industry improves, so do the athletes' performance. This is due to the fact that the equipment is more efficient, lighter and stronger, thus forming a bi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paint
Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are either oil-based or water-based, and each has distinct characteristics. Primitive forms of paint were used tens of thousands of years ago in cave paintings. Clean-up solvents are also different for water-based paint than oil-based paint. Water-based paints and oil-based paints will cure differently based on the outside ambient temperature of the object being painted (such as a house). History Paint was used in some of the earliest known human artworks. Some cave paintings drawn with red or yellow ochre, hematite, manganese oxide, and charcoal may have been made by early ''Homo sapiens'' as long as 40,000 years ago. Paint may be even older. In 2003 and 2004, South African archeologists reported finds in Blombos Cave of a 100,000-y ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Household Hardware
Hardware (some types also known as household hardware) is equipment, generally used in machines, in construction or in any built good, that can be touched or held by hand such as keys, locks, nuts, screws, washers, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, belts, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores. See also * Builders hardware Builders' hardware or just builders hardware is a group of metal hardware specifically used for protection, decoration, and convenience in buildings. Building products do not make any part of a building, rather they support them and make them wor ... References Equipment Locksmithing Wire Chains Plumbing Electrical wiring Tools Painting materials {{tool-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Houseware
Household goods are goods and products used within households. They are the tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator. Economic role Businesses that produce household goods are categorized as Cyclical Consumer Products by the Thomson Reuters Business Classification and are organized into three sub-categories: *Consumer Electronics * Appliances, tools and housewares *Home Furnishings (such as furniture) Household goods are a significant part of a country's economy, with their purchase the topic of magazines such as ''Consumer Reports'', their relocation handled by moving companies, and their disposal or redistribution facilitated by companies like Goodwill Industries, services like classified advertising and Craigslist, and events such as garage sales and car boot sales. Their safety is often regulated by governments, which also promote and facilitate their import and export. Classification Businesses that produce c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Home Appliance
A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. The domestic application attached to home appliance is tied to the definition of appliance as "an instrument or device designed for a particular use or function". ''Collins English Dictionary'' defines "home appliance" as: "devices or machines, usually electrical, that are in your home and which you use to do jobs such as cleaning or cooking". The broad usage allows for nearly any device intended for domestic use to be a home appliance, including consumer electronics as well as stoves, refrigerators, toasters and air conditioners. The development of self-contained electric and gas-powered appliances, an American innovation, emerged in the early 20th century. This evolution is linked to the decline of full-time domestic servants and desire to reduce household chores, allowing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, bodies of water such as Fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques include trawling, Longline fishing, longlining, jigging, Fishing techniques#Hand-gathering, hand-gathering, Spearfishing, spearing, Fishing net, netting, angling, Bowfishing, shooting and Fish trap, trapping, as well as Destructive fishing practices, more destructive and often Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, illegal techniques such as Electrofishing, electrocution, Blast fishing, blasting and Cyanide fishing, poisoning. The term fishing broadly includes catching aquatic animals other than fish, such as crustaceans (shrimp/lobsters/crabs), shellfish, cephalopods (octopus/squid) and echinoderms (starfish/sea urchins). The term is n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hunting
Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, bone/tusks, horn (anatomy), horn/antler, etc.), for recreation/taxidermy (see trophy hunting), although it may also be done for resourceful reasons such as removing predators dangerous to humans or domestic animals (e.g. wolf hunting), to pest control, eliminate pest (organism), pests and nuisance animals that damage crops/livestock/poultry or zoonosis, spread diseases (see varmint hunting, varminting), for trade/tourism (see safari), or for conservation biology, ecological conservation against overpopulation and invasive species (commonly called a culling#Wildlife, cull). Recreationally hunted species are generally referred to as the ''game (food), game'', and are usually mammals and birds. A person participating in a hunt is a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output. , small farms produce about one-third of the world's food, but large farms are prevalent. The largest 1% of farms in the world are greater than and operate more than 70% of the world's farmland. Nearly 40% of agricultural land is found on farms larger than . However, five of every six farm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Walker, Michigan
Walker is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A suburb of Grand Rapids, Walker borders the city to the north and west. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,132. Walker was originally organized as Walker Township in 1837 and later incorporated as a city in 1962. It is home to the headquarters of Meijer and Bissell. History The area was first organized as Walker Township on December 30, 1837, the second to be organized in Kent County. It initially comprised all of the land in the county north of the Grand River. Shortly thereafter in 1838, part of the township was split off to form Ada Township. The earliest settlers of the township were Canadian immigrants. In 1867, a township hall was built. However, the area where the township hall was annexed into Grand Rapids in 1959. Walker was established as a city in 1962 to prevent further annexation of the area into Grand Rapids. At the time it was made a city, Walker had a population of 11,0 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |