The Garfield Diner of Pottsville, PA is a classic 1950’s Kullman Diner
The company long known as Kullman Industries and more recently trading under the name Kullman Buildings Corporation has reportedly gone out of business. Started in 1927 as Kullman Diners by Samuel Kullman, it was one of the longest lived companies in the diner industry. Although with corporate restructuring and new ownership in recent years, the company focused on what they termed “offsite” construction, building all types of modular structures from schools, prisons and other non-commercial applications and basically dropped diners from their product line.
Kullman Diner Builders Tag from the 1950’s
The Fillin’ Station Whately Diner in Whately, Mass. is a Kullman Diner
Circa 1960 vintage.
Kullman Industries Builders Tag from the 1980’s
A view of the old Kullman Factory in Avenel, NJ from 1983.
That’s my blue 1979 Chevy Van in front.
The Route 9 Diner in Hadley, Mass. is a Kullman Diner Circa 2000
A recent logo for the company
here is a link to a news piece about the auction…
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/auction-of-kullman-building-corp-assets-set-for-tuesday-dec-13-under-direction-of-alco-capital-assignee-for-benefit-of-creditors-135182808.html
Auction of Kullman Building Corp. Assets Set for Tuesday, Dec. 13 Under Direction of Alco Capital, Assignee for Benefit
of Creditors
–Tiger/Daley-Hodkin retained to conduct live and online auction targeting modular building manufacturers, contractors, small businesses and homeowners
LEBANON, N.J., Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — An auction of the assets of pre-manufactured and modular building company Kullman Building Corp. is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, December 13 under the direction of Alco Capital Group, Inc., Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors. The sale will be conducted at the company’s site at 1 Kullman Corporate Campus Drive in Lebanon and online by auctioneer Tiger/Daley-Hodkin, which was retained by Alco Capital and confirmed by the Court.
The auction will include metalworking and fabrication, welding, woodworking, painting and spray booth equipment, as well as rolling stock, modular buildings, building materials, fixtures, and other assets. On-site previews will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., on Saturday, December 10; Monday, December 12, and on the day of sale. The auction will get under way at 10:00 a.m., next Tuesday.
Elaborating on the assets being auctioned, Jeff Tanenbaum, president of Tiger’s Remarketing Services Division, said: “The sale offers a diverse mix of items catering to all types of buyers. Other modular building manufacturers may appreciate the Peddinghaus state-of-the-art thermal steel fabricator or Lincoln robotic welding system, while small businesses and the general public will have an opportunity to bid on hundreds of power tools, trucks, smaller machinery and Kullman’s inventory of bathroom fixtures and building supplies. Throw in the company’s selection of office furniture and computers, and this is definitely a ‘something for everyone’ type of auction.”
Kullman Building Corp. traces its roots to 1927, when Sam Kullman started a modular-building business to create prefabricated diners. As the popularity of the roadside eateries waned, the company morphed into building products for new markets. More recently, Kullman produced prefabricated housing, dormitories, prisons, schools, banks, equipment enclosures, offices, and bathrooms.
Alco Capital was confirmed as Assignee by the Superior Court of New Jersey-Hunterdon County on October 21, 2011. The Court confirmed Tiger/Daley-Hodkin as auctioneer on December 6. Under an assignment for the benefit of creditors (“ABC”), the insolvent entity (the “Assignor”) transfers legal and equitable title, as well as custody and control of its property, to a third party (the “Assignee”) in trust. Proceeds of the asset dispositions are released by the Assignee to the Assignor’s creditors in accord with priorities established by law.
The creditors and debtor in this case concluded that an ABC should be a quicker and less expensive option than a traditional bankruptcy, according to Alco Capital.
For more information on the Kullman auction or to bid online, visit: http://auctions.tigergroupllc.com/cgi-bin/mndetails.cgi?tigergrp25.
Thanks to Ron Dylewski to bringing this news to my attention and to Dick Gutman for “The End of an Era” term for the title of this post.
Diner Hotline Weblog 
This is how every closing of any diner must feel for all those who have so much history in any of them. I already feel it, and I never had the opportunity to visit this one.
Can’t believe it. I witnessed a couple of factory tests there in around 2003 for a modular Technical Control Facility being installed by the U.S. Army in Kandahar, Afghanistan. They delivered a great product at a good price. I was looking for them again to do some Afghan National Police border posts for me. Too bad.
Thats what they get for taking Mickey Rosenberg from Mark Solutions.. he bankrupted that company too. I tried to warn Mr. Kullman but he had to learn the hard way..
What a sad end for a company that goes back as far as Kullman. I just hope that all my co-workers are doing okay.
Kullman constructed an addition to Pierson College at Yale in 2006 – on site assembly and finishes just a couple of weeks, allowing the use of the its site for the main building renovation during the rest of the year.
I worked for the company in Avenel & Lebanon sites. Love the work but when I started they did not show you how they did the job the fastest. Bathroom in Avenel was always on the Fritz I have seen this same thing happen to a business when it’s taken over by the son more then once.