OUR STORY

Our Family-Owned Business Is Committed to High-Quality Products & Unparalleled Customer Service

Your turf — and the way you care for it — matters. That’s why the D & K Products team has worked for decades to provide high-quality turf products to turfgrass managers across the Midwest.

Our family-owned business is an essential partner to a wide range of turfgrass professionals. Have questions? Never hesitate to give us a call for a consultation when the need arises. Our experienced sales staff is available to help you plan your agronomic program.

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Sometimes Great Success
Comes From Hard Times

The story of D & K Products is not your traditional business startup story; it is a story that proves that good things can come from the most desperate times.

Steve Krantz was raised in a family of work-with-your-hands, do-it-yourself parents. Steve’s mom and dad owned Krantz Brothers Flooring, a business that specialized in commercial floor covering in Des Moines and surrounding areas of Iowa. After completing his education at Grandview College, Steve went to work for his father as an installer. That career was cut short when Steve began to have back problems originating from years of working on his hands and knees. Searching for new employment, Steve’s father-in-law, Bob Underwood, a life-long homebuilder of high-end, high-quality homes in the Des Moines area, offered to teach Steve the ins and outs of the home-building market.

On April 4, 1974 Century Homes Company was established. Steve’s new company, with the help of his wife Susan, began to build and sell new homes in Des Moines. This proved to be successful enough over the next few years to support their two young children, Douglas and Kathryn.

In 1980 the federal interest rate hit a record high that still stands today of almost 20%. With construction loans now up over 20%, the homebuilding industry came to an immediate halt, forcing Steve and Susan out of the industry. With two young children at home and bills to pay, things got tight very quick. Across the street from where they lived resided their very good friends Steve and Velma Bird. Bird worked for a company called Brayton Chemicals and was a territory salesman covering the Turf and Ornamental markets in Iowa. In an effort to help Steve and Susan through the tough times, Bird offered to teach Steve the “Turf Business” while giving him a list of golf course and lawn care customers that Bird didn’t have the time to call on himself. Steve would purchase the product he sold from Bird at a small margin over cost in an effort to make a few dollars to support his family. This was about friends helping friends in times of desperation.

As time went by the business slowly grew to where it was not going to be a temporary venture. D & K Products, named after Douglas and Kathryn, was slowly becoming a recognized Turf Distribution business in Iowa, operating out of Steve’s basement office. Brayton Chemicals was eventually purchased by a larger agriculture distribution company, ending its Turf Distribution business. This created an even bigger opportunity for D & K Products.

Providing Unmatched Turf
Care for Nearly 45 Years

Today D & K Products operates across Iowa, Nebraska, Central and Southern Illinois, and South Dakota, with 5 warehouse locations and 32 employees. It is a story of small business success, with a company philosophy of excellent customer service, driven by employees who truly care about their customers.