NOW OWNED and managed by fourth and fifth generations, Shasta Linen Supply traces its origins back into the last century. After immigrating to the US from Scotland, Andrew MacAulay established MacAulay’s Laundry in Chicago 110 years ago.
Seeing new opportunity in the West, Andrew MacAulay moved to Seattle, WA where he operated his second laundry. By this time the automobile was beginning to replace the horse and the company’s service became more frequent and efficient.
Andrew MacAulay’s son, Gordon A. MacAulay, entered the family business as a young man after returning from military service in World War I. Later on, he organized his own company and operated laundries in Klamath Falls, Oakland and Sacramento.
In 1948, Gordon A. MacAulay purchased the Herb Grow Laundry, a firm founded in 1923. Renamed Shasta Linen Supply the company was converted from a family laundry to a commercial linen supply business during the 1950s. After Gordon MacAulay’s death in 1964, the business was purchased by his son, Gordon T. MacAulay, and a son-in-law, Thomas J. Hammer, Jr., a Sacramento attorney.
Expanded and modernized, the company’s production plant is located on 20th between D and E Streets in downtown Sacramento. Today, the company processes and leases linens, uniforms and other textile products to more than 800+ business and professional firms in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. Many of these customers have been with Shasta Linen Supply for five decades or more; some have never had linen service from another company.