Over 50 Years of Reliable Corporation
Richmond St. location circa 1966.
The evolution of the ReliableTM logo over the years.
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1955
Milton Kahn opens Reliable Sewing Machine Co. Its first office is in the basement and garage in his mother’s home.
1966
Company made the first of three moves in downtown Toronto, finally residing in its Richmond St. location where it occupied 2 floors.
1970
Reliable launches its first private label product, the RELSEW™
CM3-380-7 blindstitch machine. This model would remain in the line-up for over 30 years, and would be the best selling blindstitch machine in Canada during that time.
1975
Milton Kahn is honored by the NTMA (Needle Trade Management Association) as Man of the Year.
1981
Reliable moves to a larger, new location in north Toronto.
1991
Company founder Milton Kahn passes away. Son Robert takes over as President.
1992
After 37 years, company updates its logo and corporate branding.
1999
Reliable launches new professional ironing products under the RELSEW™ brand.
2001
Professional fabric steamer line is introduced.
2002
Reliable™ moves to its present 20,000 sq/ft location.
2002
Reliable acquires the rights to produce the Sussman™ line of professional vacuum pressing tables under first the Sussman™ brand, and later under its own brand.
2003
The RELSEW™ brand is replaced with Reliable™.
2003
Über Light™ halogen sewing lights are introduced.
2004
Reliable™ changes its corporate name to Reliable Corporation to reflect the new direction of the company and a new logo and branding strategy is created.
2004
Consumer fabric care line is introduced.
2005
Consumer steam cleaning line is introduced.
2006
Sewquiet™ DC Servomotor line is launched.
2006
Digital Velocity™ compact vapor generator iron is introduced. It is the first iron to receive the Woolmark™ seal of approval in North America.
2007
Pantman™ line of pant presses is introduced.
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Milton Kahn receiving his Man Of The Year award from The Needle Trade Management Association in 1975.
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Milton Kahn once said he "was almost born on a cutting table" and this was not far from the truth. His association
with the fashion industry dated back to the days of his infancy. His father was a tailor and an organizer of the
Cloakmakers Union in Toronto, and was among those who were instrumental in raising the union from a fledgling
organization into a strong advocate of workers’ rights. Those were difficult years in the garment trade. There was
a need for a strong union and Milton was young enough to have been influenced by the struggles of his father for
recognition of employees' rights…. and he was old enough to envisage a future for the industry in which employer
and employee might develop a relationship in which there would be room for mutual confidence and respect.
Milton Kahn was twenty years old when he himself went into the industry, representing firms that
manufactured or imported buttons, millinery, ribbons and those other trimmings that are an essential
part of apparel. The business appealed to him. He enjoyed meeting people. He found that he was an excellent
salesman. He knew his products, he understood the industry and, most importantly, he knew his customers’
needs and provided them with not only quality merchandise but also information about the nature and direction
of the burgeoning ‘needle trade’ industry.
In 1955, Milt teamed up with Isaac Silberman and Reliable Sewing Machine Co. was born. In the early days, everything
they sold was used merchandise: used sewing machines, used cutting machines, used sewing tables, used equipment
of every description. They occupied primitive premises - a garage and a basement. But their readiness to accommodate
their customers’ needs, their comprehensive knowledge of the apparel manufacturing industry and their technical
competence brought them a substantial measure of success. They worked hard, committing themselves unreservedly to
the task of bringing the best items they could to the customer. It was not long before they outgrew their cramped
quarters and moved to a small store on King Street West. Then, in 1966, they made a major move. They acquired 2,000
square feet, first, on Adelaide, and soon later, on Richmond St. West.
Milton never hesitated to help others, and even when he was critically ill in 1991, his children remember him trying
to help people find jobs, or lending a sympathetic ear to someone in need. “No one is a stranger to him,” his wife Ann
observed to his children. He was a man full of kindness and humour and warmth. He was a real “mensch.”
“I regard myself as a simple merchant ... one who loves the action of this industry, and the people I meet. I’m a lucky man.”
Over fifty years have passed since Kahn and Silberman founded what is today Reliable Corporation, and the industry has
gone through many changes… Reliable™ has evolved as well. Shortly before Milt's passing in 1991, his son Robert took the
helm of the company and, armed with generations of knowledge and passion for the industry, began directing Reliable™
into the future.
In 2004, the addition of new product lines called for the name to be updated to simply Reliable Corporation and a new logo
design expresses the new direction for Reliable™. The company has come a long way from selling used sewing equipment out of
a garage and now produces its own products and has a modern 20,000 square foot facility. Its products are available online,
in catalogs and carried by resellers across North America, Asia and Europe.
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