Steely resolve
The manufacturers of Bridgeport who provided the steel that won World War II have, like General Douglas MacArthur, faded away. A sturdily named exception is Acme United, still writing its own timeline.
Acme, which is now located in Fairfield, was formed about 125 years ago in Bridgeport as a grinding shop started by German immigrants. The shop would become expert at making scissors.
“Acme became the largest manufacturer of scissors in the world,” said Walter C. Johnsen, CEO of Acme United. “In the early 1900s, Acme was buying many of the small grinding shops and consolidating, in many ways it did what Henry Ford did with autos.”
According to Johnsen, today Acme is in a similarly optimal position in its market and has continued to gather competing and related companies into Acme.
In 2004 Acme bought an industrial cutting company called Claus, based in Freemont, Ohio, bringing Acme”™s cutting products into the world of commercial sewing, the auto industry, commercial florists, and poultry processing.
Acme”™s manufacturing was shifted in the late part of the last century from its American and European bases to Asia, with an Asian headquarters in Hong Kong.
Acme United’s global brand is Westcott, famous for classroom rulers and scissors.
“We”™re known for innovation in the industry,” said Johnsen. “The company for the last seven years has been hitting record sales and earnings, and named one of the fastest growing publicly traded companies in the US. We”™re very high in market share in the office super-stores Staples, Office Depot, Office Max and Target and Wal-Mart.”
Johnsen said Acme is fortunate to have the wherewithal that has been market tested in the past and a formula that allows the company to remain active in periods when the economy may cause some to freeze or panic.
“There are a lot of pieces that go on behind the scenes,” said Johnsen. “Maybe a coffee shop is not very interesting, but then you can build Starbucks. That”™s the kind of thing we”™re doing in a business that on the surface seems rather simple, but when you get into it, it”™s fascinating with many opportunities to expand. We”™ve got a strong balance sheet, we”™ve got a lot of liquidity, and we borrow at 1.3 percent interest. We are seeing opportunities to expand through some acquisitions. The ability to acquire other competitors, particularly in this current environment, is very positive for Acme”™s growth.”
Last year Acme acquired Camillus Cutlery of Syracuse, N.Y., the oldest knife manufacturer in North America, whose products are used by the U.S. military and sportsmen.
“We”™ll take something in the cutting area and develop it into the next generation,” said Johnsen. “Customers are looking for value and are relentless in demanding performance. You cannot leave empty spots on the shelves at Walmart; you will not be a vendor very long.”
Johnsen said that by keeping costs low, developing innovative products and shipping on time all the time the company has been able to parallel the needs of the market better than many of the companies Acme”™s age.
“Those are the reasons we”™ve been able to grow internally,” said Johnsen. “We”™ve just finished a record year in 2008,” said Johnsen.
Johnsen said the Acme sales in the fourth quarter were down 15 percent.
“When your customers are cutting back on inventory and their customers are being careful about what they spend, it does come back to the supplier,” said Johnsen. “We”™ve reacted by cutting senior salaries by about 40 percent and being careful where we stand in a full review of our expenses.”