Friday, January 12, 2007
I was in Atlanta last month on business, and having a few extra hours before my return flight, decided to check out the recently built Georgia Aquarium...
To be honest, I wasn't expecting all that much, but I ended up having a good time. They even had this one tank where you could reach in and touch the stingrays, and I got a real kick out of that--it was pretty cool!
Anyway, I found out that the aquarium, which is now supposedly the world's largest at over 8 million gallons, was financed in large part by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, who donated between $200-250 million towards its construction.
View More Pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
I'm not sure whether I was more impressed with the aquarium itself or the fact that one man could afford to be that generous, but when I got home, I wound up driving to the library in the next town over to borrow a copy of his book, Built from Scratch.
I was inspired by the story of Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, two executives who after being fired from their executive positions at a home improvement chain, teamed with Pat Farrah, a showman who went bankrupt trying to build what could best be described as an early prototype store, to create The Home Depot. Although these men had experienced crushing defeat, they kept working towards their goals until achieving great success.
I guess I liked the story so much because it reminded me of my father, a man of strength who built his business like he'd build a house--one nail at a time.
But there was one particular passage in this book that impressed the hell out of me...
“Here's a little industry secret: For the last 40 years, Craftsman tools were actually manufactured by an American company named Emerson Tool Co. But the consultants said it didn't matter where Sears tools were made. Their advice: Drop the local suppliers and go offshore for less expensive stationary bench tools manufacturing” (page 229)...
“After forty years of building tools for Sears, Emerson lost the contract” (page 230)...
“‘Take every one of those tools you made for Craftsman and make it better than it ever was. Increase the strength, add features. In other words, you can do whatever you want, but show us a better tool than you ever had for Craftsman’” (page 231)...
“When he and I talked about doing this, he was visibly upset that this town was going to be wiped out. I don't think that the profit and loss entered into it as much as the fact that he was going to destroy people's lives. That also became a very critical factor for us, that we were going to save a town. It fit in perfectly with our values” (page 231)...
“There isn't a tradesman who doesn't know the name Ridgid and its lifetime warranty. And the name Ridgid is ours. Ridgid Tools: Made in America... 75-year heritage... available only at The Home Depot. Rigid became one of the most successful new product launches in our history” (page 231)...
“We took busloads of Home Depot associates to Paris, Tennessee, on August 28, 1998, for a celebratory barbeque at the 600,000 square-foot Emerson plant there. That plant was significant because without our business to pick up the slack from Sears going overseas, 650 employees--6 percent of the town's population--would have been out of work” (page 232).
I've got to admit, reading that story really energized me, and since I'm always talking about how we should figure out ways to keep industrial production in America instead of just carelessly sending everything overseas, I decided to research the story further.
But I was surprised by what I would learn...
It turns out that Bernie Marcus retired in 2002, and his successor was a man by the name of Bob Nardelli. Bob took over the role of CEO, and eventually became chairman of the board as well.
Then on March 30, 2003, the Emerson Electric plant in Paris, Tennessee was officially shut down, and hundreds of workers lost their jobs. Ridgid power tools would no longer be made in America...
I didn't want to believe what I was reading, so I took a trip down to the local Home Depot to see whether or not it was true.
I saw drills that were being made in China and saws from Taiwan. I looked all over, but I couldn't find a single Ridgid power tool that was made in America.
View More Pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
I did some further research, and even managed to find a property listing for the old Emerson Electric plant. Unfortunately, it was starting to look a little run down...
Then I found out that Bob Nardelli was forced to resign his position at The Home Depot on January 2, 2007 after shareholders started complaining about his obscene compensation package. The ironic part is that after essentially being fired for greed, he was awarded a $210 million severance package.
But you can bet those hardworking men and women at that plant in Paris, Tennessee didn't walk away with millions when they lost their jobs...
Sources:
Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion by Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, and Bob Andelman
Georgia Aquarium - Official Website
U.S. Department of Labor - Federal Register Notice - Emerson Tool Company
