Our History
Founded in 1879, Foley Services Inc. established in Rutland, Vermont is celebrating a very special anniversary. Foley Services is proud to celebrate 125 years in business. In addition, they are the oldest family run laundry operation in the United States.
It was the spring of 1879 when Michael Foley decided to purchase Goodwin’s Laundry, where he had been employed for a number of years. The new Foley’s Laundry was located at the intersection of Merchants Row and West Street, currently the location of the Charter One Bank. The majority of their business at that time was walk-in retail customers and home deliveries made by horse and buggy.
In the early 1920’s, Michael Foley passed away leaving his two sons John and Joseph to run the business. They continued to service the retail business and began to expand into the commercial market. A fleet of delivery trucks would now service the established accounts, and allowed for new businesses to be added in and beyond Rutland County. As the business began to grow, it became increasingly evident that a larger more efficient facility was needed. In 1958, Foley Laundry moved into a new building with more modern equipment on State Street in Rutland where their business continues to operate today.
Mark Foley, Joseph Foley’s son, had begun to work in the business and in 1968 Mark Foley became the manager of the uniform rental department. In the early seventies, it became obvious that many items that were previously rented were being replaced by disposable products. Taking advantage of this trend, Mark formed Foley Distributing Company in 1973, After occupying several temporary locations, Foley Distributing settled into their new home in Pittsford for the next fifteen years. Once again, the business prospered and eventually outgrew the location forcing a welcomed expansion to it’s current location, a 140,000 square foot facility on Seward Road in Rutland, formerly the Moore Building. Foley Distributing has grown into one of Vermont’s largest paper and janitorial supply companies.
Recognizing an opportunity in the paper products market, The Party Store began as a wholesale, by the case, by request business on West Street in Rutland. As they began to cater to the retail party industry, and the demand grew, they moved to a larger location on South Main Street in Rutland. Their business continued to grow and they moved into their current home in the completely renovated and restored building on Strongs Avenue in Rutland. (Formerly the Wilson Building)
In 1978 Mark Foley became the president and sole owner of Foley Services. Since that time, he has continued to invest in state of the art processing equipment that has transformed the laundry operation into one of the most modern in New England. With a dedicated staff in place, Foley Services your image solution, offers lined rental, uniforms rental to include kitchen and healthcare, career apparel, logo mats and dust control products. Foley Services continues to offer commercial laundering to customers throughout Vermont and parts of New York and New Hampshire.
More than 130 individuals are currently employed by the Foley Family of business. Mark Attributes a great deal of the company’s success over the years, to the many loyal and dedicated employees. The Foley family businesses continues to promote their founding principals…