By Wanda Lenoir
Generations of Innovation Proudly "Doing the Right Thing" for 175 years
Watching treasure hunters bid on repossessed storage units on the reality show “Storage Wars” can be quite an adventure. Bidders have no idea what’s inside the lockers, but hope it’s filled with valuable treasures rather than worthless trash. Everyone is quiet as bidders anxiously wait for the auctioneer to open the door so they can take a quick peek inside. Then the door is unceremoniously shut again. The bidding is fast and furious, but when the stakes get too high, those who are outbid ride away with plans to return another day.
Although there were no storage wars in 1851, public auctions were common. Adam Foss, founder of The Wooster Brush Company, was 29 years old when he attended an unclaimed freight auction in Cincinnati, Ohio, and purchased a crate of hog bristles. Being entrepreneurial and innovative, Adam determined the best thing to do with his newly acquired bristle inventory was to add wood handles and turn them into paintbrushes. Together with his brother, he produced them by hand in a small, two-story building in downtown Wooster, Ohio, about an hour south of Cleveland. When a batch of brushes was finished, they would load up the wagon, hit the road, and sell them door-to-door across the state of Ohio.
Committing to the Long-term
The strategy was hugely successful. By the turn of the century, though, a series of fires had destroyed the downtown building, so in 1909 the owners purchased land just a few blocks away to build a larger factory. The Wooster Brush Company has remained in its current headquarters on Madison Avenue for the past 116 years. Having been added onto many times through the decades as the company grew, the original 1909 building is still in use.
Wooster’s current President, Ben Maibach, says the Foss family was “purposeful” in its decision-making and actions, preferring long-term commitments. Maibach says,
After Adam Foss died, his son took over the business in his early 20s, and the commitment his father had for producing quality products and making employees a priority never wavered. I am only the 10th president in 175 years. Our company reflects the culture Adam Foss created when he founded the business. The idea of putting our associates first worked then and continues to be our core value today.” Over time, it produces a culture dedicated to quality, innovation, and service.
Generations of Innovation
The Wooster Brush Company had been providing customers with quality products for 10 years before the Civil War, growing alongside the country. That’s a long time. Developing products that meet the needs of multiple generations of customers requires companies to be innovative and resourceful. Even when the odds of success seem to be fading fast, nimble organizations remain united in moving forward. Throughout its 175-year history,
The Wooster Brush Company has “changed the game” by introducing unique products that have transformed how DIYers and Pros use paintbrushes and rollers. The products offer an exceptional level of quality and efficiency and have set new industry standards for performance.
1926—FOSS-SET cement is developed to hold bristles in place.
1937—The Angle Brush is created to offer extra control and to improve ergonomics
1941—The Nylon Brush. Wooster introduces the modern nylon paint brush to assist the military, using synthetic filaments developed by DuPont.
1964—Synthetic fabrics for roller covers provide exceptional paint capacity.
1992—Sherlock Roller Frame is introduced. It features a retaining spring that locks the roller in place and keeps it from slipping.
Great products result when committed employees work together to achieve the company’s vision and long-term objectives. Maibach says, “Our employees are committed because we’re committed to them. And our customers trust us because the end result of that commitment is the high quality of products we make.”
People are our Purpose
Maibach is a “people person” who prefers to shine a spotlight on the company’s employees rather than on his own accomplishments. “Talk to our people and their families, they can tell you who we are as a company. They are our priority. We haven’t laid anyone off since 1954. The lady’s name was Bertha Harold; she was hired back a week later.
The most destructive thing you can do as a company is lay people off. We don’t think it is a good business tool to use for staying profitable. When COVID came, we shut the factory down for a few weeks—we paid employees to stay home. We put our money where our mouth is. When the economy collapsed in 2007 and 2008, when the housing bubble burst, Wooster continued to support our employees and kept people working. Addressing people’s problems and concerns around job security fosters teamwork, trust, and a passion for quality.”
Families are Welcome
While many companies avoid hiring family members, The Wooster Brush Company believes this type of togetherness keeps the company deeply rooted in the community. Maibach says, “We hire people and commit to them. If a person is a good worker, we want to make them feel like a part of the company. Families have been working here for generations because they appreciate our culture and the values the company stands for.
Our executive administrator has worked here for 42 years and has served in that role under four of the last 10 presidents. Her son is now the supervisor of second and third shifts, and her brother-in-law retired from production control. Many other couples have worked at Wooster for more than 20 years.
Building Trusted Relationships
Admittedly, taking care of their employees by providing a positive work environment and great benefits is Wooster’s top priority because they understand the cascading effect it has on business. Maibach states, “Our brand tagline is “We take pride in your results. That really speaks to three groups of people—our employees, our end-users, and our retail partners. We take pride in the results of our employees and their dedication to crafting the highest-quality painting tools. We take pride in the painting results of DIY and Professional painters who use our products. They get to experience first-hand the benefits of using products that give them better results with less effort. And finally, we take pride in our retail customers’ results. Wooster products that meet the needs of end users drives foot traffic into large and small stores brings them back, benefiting their bottom line.”
Focusing on Decisions that Matter
Maibach emphasizes that Wooster has never sacrificed quality for anything else. He says, “We call it being purposefully inefficient. Wooster won’t change its processes just to save a nickel, and we won’t add machines or automation if our people can do it better. We can’t change our culture, and we can’t change our quality. Those are the things that have made us successful for 175 years. Everything else is on the table. Two years ago, we built a new 600,000 sq. ft. building. It has the innovative technology that will keep the company competitive while allowing us to maintain our core values.”
Do the Right Thing
While it’s common to read about businesses that cut corners to get ahead, they ultimately lose their customers’ trust. Maibach advises people to “do the right thing. When things get rough or complicated, it may seem easier to make quick-fix decisions to solve the problem. But those decisions have consequences—on quality, on the company, and on people. Here at Wooster, we don’t make choices based on how they impact the quarter; our decisions are based on the long term. Building an organization around teamwork and trust gives employees a passion for quality, and it pays off in the end.”
What role does research and customer feedback play in product development?
Voice of Customer (VoC) research is a critical part of our product development process. It helps drive innovation by allowing us to identify and better understand the needs of painters, test new ideas and concepts, and gather the feedback necessary to validate that the products and features we develop will be well received in the market. It also gives our retail partners confidence that the Wooster products they offer have been thoroughly vetted through surveys and in-use testing, so they benefit not only by the sell-through but, more importantly, customer satisfaction.
How does the Sherlock line of products differ from competitors?
The Wooster Sherlock® roller frame is the most trusted, most durable frame used by pro painters. Introduced over 25 years ago, it became the industry standard and remains the benchmark by which all other roller frames are measured. As the name implies, it features a retaining spring that locks the roller cover in place to prevent slipping, yet allows for easy, hands-free removal with a single wrap on the edge of a bucket or trash can. The heavy-duty, reinforced cage frame includes internal bearings that deliver smooth rolling and even coverage. Another pro-level feature is the Quick-Clik® connection to Wooster Sherlock GT® extension poles, which prevents the frame from becoming unthreaded during use. Though there have been many competitors, pros know there’s only one Sherlock.
Recommend a list of products independent retailers should stock if they want to attract more Professionals and grow the business?
Wooster offers a wide range of products and merchandising solutions targeted to the retail channel and consumer base served. To drive sales and profits with professional painters, the breadth of their assortment needs to support various applications across many different surfaces. For example, to provide the best result, the brush bristle used on a rough exterior surface is significantly different than an interior application. Performance, quality, and durability are key as the Pro will invest more as they clean and maintain their tools, and reuse project after project. Besides traditional interior and exterior projects, categories such as flooring and roofing provide significant growth opportunities.
Most importantly, the offering must include everything necessary to complete the total project. Beyond the brush and roller, accessories such as extension poles, paint trays, and roller frames are used daily on the job, so they must be a one-stop shop. Wooster offers a professional line of products highlighted by the Ultra/Pro® brush and Pro/Doo-Z® roller covers designed for today’s paints.
What is the most important thing you want our readers to know about The Wooster Company?
“Celebrating 175 years is quite an accomplishment, and we are very excited to celebrate this milestone. The beauty of being 175 years old is that you have seen and done a lot. So, when asked about what is next, my simple answer is, ‘More of the same.’ To some, that might sound negative…but this isn’t an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ scenario. We are not 175 years old because we make brushes a certain way or make perfect decisions in all cases. We are 175 years old because people have been, and will continue to be, our focus. At the top of the list of people are our employees and their families. For 175 years, this has been the true glue that has held our company together and allowed us to thrive.
If we put our people first, they will continue to do what they have always done — innovate, make the best brushes in the world, improve processes; to be proud of what we have accomplished but never satisfied that we are ‘there.’ Our culture mixed with our quality is what is behind us and what is in front of us.”
