The History of Kellyco

1953 - Stuart Auerbach, CEO of Kellyco Metal Detector Superstore, was first introduced to metal detecting in 1953 via the United States Army. As a combat engineer specializing in mine clearing, Stu learned how to locate and remove buried mines in Korea with the latest in both army and civilian mine detectors. It was more than a hobby - it was a precise, lifesaving methodology.

1955 - As the times changed and the metal detecting industry grew, Stu and his staff at Kellyco dedicated themselves to converting the life-saving precision of army metal detectors to the new found hobby of metal detecting. Coin, jewelry, gold and treasure hunting became the new focus in 1955, as Kellyco staff and "Test Team" members constantly examined the latest information on metal detecting technology and thoroughly tested manufacturer's claims.

1974 - In 1974 professional treasure hunters such as "Indian John" Durham became part of the world-renowned Kellyco "Test Team." Stu spent countless hours in steaming tropical heat testing the ability of new scanner circuits. Their motto was "If they work for us, they'll work for you" and they set out to personally ensure the quality of innovative equipment such as compass scanner detectors and scanner circuits.

1980 - Several years later, in 1980, George Payne was credited with designing the first Very Low Frequency (VLF) circuits. His designs were used in the new, White’s, “Coin Master" and Bounty Hunter "Red Baron" detectors. Of course one of the first places George took his new designs for testing was Kellyco’s office in Florida. The VLF technology was first featured in the Tek/Bounty Hunter detectors.

1983 - George left Tek/Bounty in 1983, but continued to design modern micro processing detectors such as the world-famous Cobra, Cobra II, Cobra SST, King Cobra, and Viper.

1984 - In 1984 John Fetner, Kellyco’s Vice President, became one of the first distributors to participate in a learning seminar hosted by Fisher Research Laboratories. This made him a pioneer in the industry as he was one of the first people given an opportunity to learn everything about the entire Fisher line of detectors. John absorbed all the technical material offered and passed the information to Kellyco staff members and “Test Team” – ensuring that everyone involved with Kellyco remained at the top of the metal detecting industry technology.

1985 - A year later the Kellyco “Test Team” members participated in one of the first White’s Metal Detectors factory seminars. After passing tests and becoming officially certified by White’s, Kellyco staff members were able to answer any and all customer questions regarding the performance and tuning of every White’s metal detector – that knowledge and skill continues today.

1988 - In 1988 Kellyco physically expanded from their 3,000 sq. ft. quarters into a larger building to provide better service to customers worldwide. A 30,000 sq. ft. building on 3.5 acres in Winter Springs, Florida became home to Kellyco’s 40 “Metal Detector Experts” and the worlds largest selection of modern, metal detectors – for both beginners and old pros.

1991 - Kellyco continued partnering with manufactures, and in 1991 Kellyco team members went to the Garrett factory to inspect the brand new GTA, Master Hunter, and Freedom Series detectors before they were introduced to the market. Kellyco clearly has an edge on both the industry and the technology thanks to decades spent side-by-side with the innovators of many of the finest metal detectors.

1996 - In 1996 Stu was invited to visit the Minelab headquarters in Adelaide, S. Australia to learn more about the sophistication of multi-frequency, Broad Band Spectrum (BBS) detectors. Again, Kellyco’s team members were given a huge knowledge a huge knowledge advantage in the new technology for metal detecting, and were the first ones introduced to wave after wave of new technology – including Minelab’s Full Band Spectrum (FBS) technology. (right)

1998 - On December 5, 1998 Kellyco went live with the first version of the website. KellycoDetectors.com didn’t start off too fancy, but was a pioneer in the online access of metal detecting equipment and good, solid, information. As more and more people gained access to the internet, Kellyco’s online reputation for customer service and support grew to enormous proportions.

2001 - Meanwhile, Stu and John continued their good relationships with metal detector manufactures and in 2001 they participated in a VIP Sales Meeting held by Garrett Metal Detector’s for top selling dealers. Only the biggest and the best were invited and Kellyco was at the top of the list.

2005 - In 2005 Kellyco expanded online sales and became accessible worldwide. Making metal detectors and treasure hunting accessories available both in an online store and auctions brought a significant amount of business to Kellyco. At this point Kellyco became globally synonymous with everything related to metal detecting as they were only a click away from the world.

Known for excellence and information, Kellyco spent several years involved with local law enforcement and security companies. Even FBI members, trained to find the smallest piece of evidence or clues, were given tips by Kellyco team members and were given recommendations for detectors by Kellyco certified detector experts.

2006 - In 2006 Stu acknowledged the power of hurricanes to not only turn up great beach treasure but to also pause business. In the name of productivity Kellyco invested $50,000 in a complete generator back-up system to ensure that Florida’s Hurricanes don’t keep world-wide customers from getting the best service and metal detecting equipment Kellyco has to offer. A year later, the Kellyco shipping department was expanded four times its previous size and the warehouse was completely rearranged to enable more efficient packaging of orders. And soon after that a 64 line phone system was installed to ensure all of our customers talk to real people, no matter what.

Today Kellyco is larger than ever. Thousands of metal detectors are in our warehouse right now, with a fully-trained staff ready to both educate and support you through your purchase. With a customer service and test team, larger-than-ever shipping department, world-wide web access across a multitude of search engines, and dedication to the metal detecting hobby - we’re proud to say our customers are with us for a life-time of treasure hunting.