McIntyre Maintenance began in 1984 and has not stopped evolving in 40 years. From the name change to McIntyre Group Office Service Inc. to spawning five companies, three divisions, multiple products and brands, and two holding companies. It has been an interesting 40 years, and we hope to take you through the 40-year history through this blog, showcasing where we started and what we have become. Our founder, Dean McIntyre, would say that he fell into the business, but it has certainly been a ride since.

In 1984, we were known as McIntyre Maintenance. Our area of expertise back in the early days was building maintenance, office cleaning and landscape maintenance. Dean recalls that in the early days, he would sometimes hear, “You are too young to own your own business.” He has not heard that in a long time!

In 1988, our name changed to McIntyre Group Office Services Inc. to better align with how our service offering was evolving. The company was changing from building maintenance and landscape maintenance to office services. As office workstations were being widely adopted, an opportunity was there to provide this service. We bought our first trucks and hired our first truly full-time employees.

Marilyn Hodgson joined McIntyre to be our office manager in 1986 and stayed with us until her retirement in 2011. Dean needed someone to keep our 600 sq. ft office and storage organized, type up our quotes on the old IBM Selectric typewriter and get them in the mail. In 1987, we got our first fax machines. Were we cutting edge or what? Marilyn kept us all in line back then and even today! Marilyn may be retired, but she is still part of the McIntyre family, attending company events and holidays at Dean and Leanne’s.

In August of 1987, it was time to step up our game. We were getting consistently busier, and we needed a reliable crew to work with. Jerry O’Brien joined us as an installer and was quickly leading our field team. Jerry has been an integral part of this business, and we would not be where we are today without him. Jerry is currently in his 37th year with McIntyre Group and is our VP of Western Operations.

Expanding to a Second Location

 In August of 1990, it was time to expand. Dean did some research and decided that Calgary was the place to be. Dean’s dad, Lorne McIntyre, joined the team and moved from Saskatoon to Calgary, and Jerry O’Brien loaded up his pickup and a U-Haul trailer and moved across the country.

Lorne took care of sales, and Jerry would lead the installations. The Alberta economy was thriving, so it did not take long for the two of them to become busy and start to hire. When you have an office on the other side of this country, you must have people you trust. Lorne and Jerry were who we needed then, and Jerry continues to be even today.

Over the next couple of years, the Calgary office began to grow. We opened a small warehouse and moved it every couple of years as we needed more space. They built a great relationship with a couple of the dealers and manufacturers that kept them and a small crew busy. The Calgary branch, with the efforts of Lorne and Jerry, was getting a good reputation and growing quickly.

Our Ontario operations were also growing quickly back in the 1990s. We had moved operations three times in 5 years and completely transitioned away from building maintenance and landscaping. We were focused on office installation and delivery of furniture for our dealers and manufacturers.

As we grew, Dean started considering buying land and building our own facility to be home to our head office and Ontario operations. In 1996, we purchased 3 acres of land in Ayr, Ontario and built our first building, a 10,000 sq. ft office and warehouse – that was the 5-year plan. We thought we had our space challenges fixed, but it became apparent quickly that we would be out of space before we moved in. That led to the decision to add a second building on the adjoining lots, and in 1999, we added 25,000 sq. ft. We now had 35,000 sq. ft, with 10 docks and a fleet of trucks and vans.

1997 was also a pivotal year for the company organizationally: it was time to improve our technology. Before this time, Marilyn would keep all the company records in the old green legers that bookkeepers would use in those days. As we moved to our new head office location in Ayr, Ontario, we also installed our first computer system with four computers on the network. Dean’s sat on his desk for 6 months before he ever turned it on. When he did turn it on in 1998, he also made the decision that it was time to give up his field duties and spend more time in the office running the day-to-day operations of the growing business.

In the 1990s, Schendel’s Office Furniture in Kitchener-Waterloo was one of our dealer customers in Ontario. Steve was the son of one of our primary contacts there, Linda Shepard. The story goes something like this: Linda called Dean one day and said something like, “My son Steve is finishing college and needs a job; hire him.” Dean does not recall it being an option! 27 years and multiple positions later, Steve is now our Vice President of Sales and Operations and a leader of our business.

Rebranding

Below is an image of the original brochure we had put together in the ’80s and early ’90s. As time passed, it became clear that we needed some professional help! We had to define who we were and what our offering was so we could commence with the vision to grow the company across Canada.

In 2000, we engaged with Quarry Communications in Waterloo, Ontario, to design a new logo, brochure, and service slogan. Pictured is our first professionally done brochure outlining our services. We also used this material to build out our first website.

Our newly designed logo incorporated two check marks. We would always ask our installation teams if they had done their double check as we finished an installation. The marketing company heard this and turned the story into the McIntyre Double Check. It is still part of our Fit and Finish today as we complete a project.

The McIntyre “Double Check” Commitment

At McIntyre, quality control is more than words. It’s a pride in craftsmanship that extends beyond the individual and involves our teammates and our clients. We believe in a positive team environment that invites friendly, constructive scrutiny and early problem identification resulting in viable solutions and optimum results.

It’s a flexible, ongoing process that encourages a climate of openness, personal development and inclusive communication, empowering each of us to take responsibility for the quality of service we deliver to our clients. That’s the McIntyre “Double Check” quality commitment and an integral part of the services we provide.

Lorne McIntyre Retires

Then, in the spring of 1999, Lorne McIntyre (Deans’s dad) decided it was time to retire after 9 years with McIntyre Group in Calgary. We sent Lorne off with a party attended by family, friends and many of our valued business partners.

Growth Plans

Dean had a vision to have a McIntyre Group location in all major markets in Canada. In 2005, it was time to consider that plan. Ayr and Calgary locations were both thriving, so it was time to consider our next location.

We were servicing Metro Toronto from Ayr, which was a 60–90-minute drive. Toronto is the largest market in Canada, so it made sense to start our expansion close to home. We opened our third location in Brampton, Ontario, to service the Metro Toronto facility with Peter Berardi as our branch manager. In 2006, we opened a branch in Kingston, Ontario, to service the Kingston-Ottawa corridor, and in 2007, we opened a Vancouver, B.C. branch. By 2007, we had grown to 175 full-time staff, a fleet of 50 vehicles and 250,000 sq. ft of warehouse space.

Dean would say that this was the biggest learning opportunity he had as a business owner. Our country is very large, which makes it difficult to be in multiple locations regularly. He travelled 20-25 weeks a year between the locations while also raising a family. He learned how different each market is and that what works in one, may not in another. Dean also learned how important trust was between the people you have in place in each location. It became clear that the vision of a location in multiple centres was easier to envision than execute on. By 2009, that dream of multiple locations was no longer part of the business plan, and the company contracted back to three locations in two provinces. Today, we have two offices with 4 warehouse locations in two provinces.

The Beginning of Diversification

After a conversation about how labour-intensive the furniture manufacturers were making the installation of the new products and beginning to download more of the assembly to the field, Dean and Jerry thought there must be a better way. In 2008, Jerry showed Dean a prototype workstation he had developed. What Jerry showed him was his vision of a 6’x6’ workstation that was one piece, folded and would be on wheels for mobility. Jerry installed the prototype in less than a minute. This was the beginning of what became a great partnership on a new venture and our first diversification into product development.

After the third prototype, Dean and Jerry felt they had a marketable product. They started a company and applied for a patent on the new concept. Today that company is known as Swiftspace and is a sister company to McIntyre Group. Jerry and Dean were aware they had no experience with manufacturing and distribution. They were introduced to Rob Way by the company’s HR Consultant, Joanne Taylor. Rob had built a successful healthcare furniture company and had recently sold it and was looking for his next business challenge. The three formed a 3-way partnership in 2010 that continues today. We started with a mobile workstation and today have multiple mobile products that sell across Canada and the USA.

Dean is the type of entrepreneur who is always looking for what is next. In 2015, an opportunity presented itself to build a new business using the structure of McIntyre to support it. Ayrsonics Canada was formed as the first company in Canada to use PET acoustic sheet materials to create some really cool acoustic features. Our target market is architects and designers. Ayrsonics grew rapidly, doubling sales annually from 2015 to 2019 and in 2019 Ayrsonics was added to the Canadian Business Startup 50 fastest growing companies list.

In late 2019, the idea of adding another sustainable product to the Ayrsonics offering was top of mind. We met with Carmen William, who was working in the interior landscape business in Calgary, Alberta, and she introduced us to preserved moss. After some research, we started to consider how biophilia and natural products would fit well within Ayrsonics and our distribution system across Canada and the USA. Dean offered Carmen a position as our Moss Specialist in March 2020, the week the Coronavirus pandemic hit. As we shut down, we also started to build a new brand. It may not have been the best timing, but it did give us the time to build it and get it launched. Quiet Earth Moss is now available through our distributors across Canada, the USA, and Latin America.

The Pandemic

In early March 2020, we, along with the rest of the world, shut down. It was devastating to almost every person and business, and we were no different. We are in the office interiors business, so when everyone went home, our business went to zero overnight. Our manufacturing business came to a stop. The office interiors business was hit hard and will never be the same again, in our opinion.

The week after the country shut down, we were trying to decide how to get operations running at some capacity. Dave Dunk, our Toronto Rep for D9 Studio, received a call on a Sunday evening from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). CBC had to keep their operations going and made an urgent request to design a desk screen that they could use to provide physical distancing in their control rooms, allowing the show to go on. We made many screens as quickly as we could and shipped them to CBC locations across Canada.

Our People

As we began to get our service and manufacturing divisions back up and running, it was difficult for our field teams to get food and drink when on the way to job sites. We needed to provide meals for our team if they were going to be out on the road. For the next three months, Leanne McIntyre, Dean’s wife, made lunches Monday to Friday for the field teams. Leanne got nicknamed “Lunch Lady Leanne”. Leanne went beyond what most would expect, but that is Leanne and the culture of our business. We take care of the McIntyre Family.

The people of our company have always been the differentiator for us. Retaining our team and their skill was always the primary focus for Dean. As the company reached corporate milestones, it became clear that we also needed staff milestones, so our staff service awards were created. We started with 5-year and 10-year awards. Then we started to have staff reaching 15 years, which Dean never really envisioned early on. As staff began to reach 20, 25, 30 and even 35 years, it became a challenge to decide on gifts for these people that are so important to the success of our company. Today, in our 40th year, we have over 100 people in our group of companies. Of them, 50% have been with the company for 10 years or longer. We are very proud of that and strive daily to make McIntyre a great place to work. We continue the service award tradition each year in both Kitchener and Calgary. It truly is a work family.

McIntyre 3PL

Going into the pandemic, Dean thought we had diversified the business with manufacturing that required specialty installation to remove some of the peaks and valleys in business. When our industry shut down, it became clear that our diversification was all in one channel.

The pandemic spawned the next division of McIntyre Group, McIntyre 3PL: 3rd Party Warehouse and fulfillment services in Ontario and Alberta, but for customers across Canada. During the pandemic, purchasing online increased significantly, and the need for warehousing, logistics, and fulfillment services literally exploded. Our FSN partners in Boston, Colonial Systems, called with an opportunity for us: a request for warehousing in Toronto, and it needed to happen quickly. We received the call the week before Christmas in 2020, and by mid-January 2021, McIntyre 3PL was formed, and we had acquired 250,000 sq. ft of space to receive over eight hundred containers of product for Walmart Canada. McIntyre had always been in the warehouse business, but this project affirmed for us that we were very good at it.

McIntyre 3PL is now the fastest-growing division in our business. We have increased our 3PL offering to 330,000 sq. ft of warehouse space for this quickly growing division. Our newest facility in Calgary brings us to 233,000 sq. ft in Alberta.

Message from Dean and Leanne

Throughout this blog, we have shared the 40-year journey of McIntyre Group. We genuinely appreciate you indulging us as we revisited our history from 1984 to today. 

To conclude our 40th year, we are sharing one final message to recap these incredible 40 years and, most importantly, to thank everyone who has been part of this journey. McIntyre Group would not have reached this milestone without all of you. 

Our business has continually evolved over the years, as companies must do to remain relevant, successful, and resilient. In the early 1980s, we started with building maintenance, office cleaning, and landscape maintenance. By the late 1980s, we pivoted to office furniture installation, a service that continues to be the cornerstone of our business today. 

Through the 2000s, we expanded into specialty installations such as architectural walls and fixed seating. From 2000 to 2010, we also grew our locations and warehouse capabilities, learning along the way that more locations and staff across Canada did not always align with our winning formula. 

In 2009, we ventured into manufacturing as founding partners of Swiftspace, creating mobile office furniture in Kitchener, Ontario, for Canada and the USA. By 2015, we expanded further into manufacturing with Ayrsonics Canada, designing and producing acoustic products. Ayrsonics has grown rapidly, with manufacturing facilities in Canada and the USA, helping us produce regionally, serve our customers more effectively, and reduce our carbon footprint. 

During the pandemic in 2021, we launched Quiet Earth Moss, offering acoustic and biophilic preserved moss walls. These products, sold through the Ayrsonics network, align perfectly with our core specialty installation business and sustainability goals. In the same year, we founded McIntyre 3PL, our warehouse and logistics division, to provide third-party services for clients across Canada. While we initially stored office products, we pivoted to fulfill e-commerce needs, including products such as patio furniture, outdoor yard equipment and ready-to-use consumer products for companies like Walmart and Costco. What began as a new venture has proven to be a remarkable success. 

In 2024, we took another bold step by launching McI-Liquidation.com, assisting our e-commerce clients with excess stock and returns. Never did we imagine being in the liquidation business 40 years ago! The secret to our success has been diversification. While office furniture installation remains a strong foundation, our growth into other areas has made us a much stronger company today. 

To our clients: For over 40 years, your loyalty and support have been incredible. The McIntyre team has always aimed for excellence, and even in moments when we fell short, your trust allowed us to learn, adapt, and improve. Being part of the Facilities Service Network has driven us to maintain industry-leading standards that we integrate into our service offerings.     

To our families: Thank you for your patience and understanding. The unpredictable hours of this industry demand a lot, and your support allows our team to care for our valued customers and uphold the company’s best interests. 

To our team: Over the years, we have been fortunate to have so many long-term employees. Some of you have been with us for nearly the entire journey, and you are the backbone of our success. To those who have moved on, you have helped shape who we are, and we often hear from you with fondness. For those who stayed, you are family, and we are forever grateful. We will continue to support and appreciate you, as you have done for us. 

Looking ahead, our industry is undergoing significant change and consolidation, and McIntyre Group is well-positioned to navigate this transformation. The next chapter will be fascinating, and we are committed to seeing it through. 

We are “LIFERS” in this business and expect to see McIntyre Group reach 50 years before we know it! Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. 

With gratitude,
Dean and Leanne McIntyre

Written by Victoria Locke-Wheal, unLOCKEd Company