Industry Moving and storage Area served Global Website AMJ Campbell website Type of business Private | Headquarters Canada Key people CEO Bruce Bowser Founded 1934 | |
Predecessor MJ Campbell Moving and Storage Profiles | ||
AMJ Campbell Van Lines is a Canadian moving company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's largest residential and commercial mover.
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Founding
The company was originally named MJ Campbell Moving and Storage, a family-owned enterprise founded forty years beforehand. It began with two offices, one in Toronto and the other in Barrie, Ontario, and was licensed to move clients both interprovincially and between the US and Canada. The name of the company was changed to AMJ Campbell Van Lines in 1977. One of the reasons for this was to move the company to nearer the top of the list of moving companies in the phone book. In its first year the company's revenues were $250,000.
History
By 1983 the revenues of the company had reached $3 million. During the 1980s the company expanded to include offices in Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. The company also ended its relationship with North American Van Lines and became an agent of Atlas Van Lines. In 1988 Vector, a venture capital company, purchased 70% of the company for $10.5 million, however 30% ownership of the company and day-to-day operations remained with AMJ's management team. Vector took the company public in 1992 on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CAMVEC. In the late 1990s the company purchased the agricultural products company Kord Products. In 1997 Bruce Bowser was named the president of the company and became the largest single shareholder, having served as executive vice-president since 1992. Bowser had previously worked in an executive capacity for the Bank of Nova Scotia. By 2002 the company had revenues of $110 million per year. That year the company was taken private. After the move, Bowser became the CEO of AMJ. As of the 2010s AMJ had become the largest moving company in Canada.
Partnerships
The company has sponsored Canadian athletes and athletic associations including curler Russ Howard, the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic, and the Canadian Olympic Association. It is also an official mover for several Canadian sports franchises, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Calgary Flames, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as well as Canadian college sports teams. The company has also organized philanthropic efforts, such as the collecting of tents for use in international disaster zones in need emergency housing as well as local community campaigns.