End Of An Era As Kalamazoo Electric Motor Announces Closure

After being in business for nearly 80 years, Kalamazoo Electric Motor has announced that they have permanently closed.

Recently, somebody visited their location off Mills Street, which they have been in for 21 years since the spring of 2005, only to see a sign that was left by the owners announcing their closure.

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In the letter, you can tell they were devastated to have to close up the shop, and did not specify a reason as to why they had to close:

It is with great sadness that we have made the very difficult decision to close our doors June 1, 2026. We will not be taking in any new repairs or ordering new product. We sincerely want to thank all of our customers that we have served since 1949. It is a true end to an era.

In the comment section of the Facebook post that shared this news, what person shared what is alleged to be the history of this company’s journey throughout Kalamazoo:

"Friends Jerry Mejeur and Russel Curtis returned from World War II and launched this company in the Spring of 1949 on the 200 block of E. Ransom. By June of that year, they moved into a new shop on Academy at W. Michigan."

The '50s saw them moving to a larger facility on Portage Street at Crosstown Parkway, where they operated for a few years until they purchased the inventory and equipment of the Newland Machinery & Supply Company nearby on Portage and brought all that to yet another new location on Vine @ Portage. The Vine Street location would be their home for a few decades, from the '60s into the 2000s."