Cupery & De Young has its roots dating all the way back to the early 1920’s with a hardware store serving Friesland and the surrounding community. They carried items for the home and farm, and were even featured in Speed Queen’s The Agitator for their successful sales results in 1929. As transportation routes and cars improved, the hardware business began to wane as local consumers were able to more easily travel to patronize distant bigger retailers with larger selections. Realizing a change was needed for Cupery & De Young’s continued survival, Del De Young identified a market that was underserved, that of commercial warehousing. Seizing this opportunity, he formed Cupery & De Young Storage Corporation in 1961 with the help of the original investors in Cupery & De Young’s Hardware Store. The new storage company purchased the land and buildings from the defunct Richland Canning Company in Friesland, and began to serve several of the local vegetable processors for storage of their finished goods.