Seton Identification Products

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Seton Identification Products is a supplier of safety, labeling and signage products based in Buffalo, NY. [1] Seton manufactures and distributes workplace safety equipment, facility marking applications, and traffic & parking signage, as well as warehouse and facility security products. It sells 57,000 products and has subsidiaries in 14 countries. [2] It is a subsidiary of Brady Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Contents

History

Seton was founded in 1956 as the Seton Name Plate Corporation in New Haven by Fenmore R. Seton. [1] While still in the Air Force, in free time, Seton and his wife Phyllis started a part-time mail order business from their home, specializing in personalized Christmas cards for individuals with the surname 'Smith'. To meet the demand for their product, the Setons purchased a small table-top hot-stamping machine. [3] In 1952, they purchased an attachment for their stamping machine to make doorbell nameplates. They went on to produce display boards for local hardware stores. In 1954, the service manager of a large Carrier Air Conditioning contractor in New Haven noticed one of the Setons' display boards and requested that they produce some specialized nameplates for his company. [1] [2]

By 1962, the company was handling a six-figure government order. [3] The nameplate business grew rapidly, and Seton added another line, mail-order sales of industrial products. These products included pipe markers, safety signs, property identification tags, emblems, and truck signs. Seton became a specialist in a field known today as "business-to-business direct marketing". [4]

In 1967, after years of reliance on flyers as their main source of marketing and advertising, the company published its first catalog, mailed to over 110,000 prospects. [4] By the 1970s, annual sales were around $5 million, with 20–25% margins. [1] By 1974, the company's mailing list had grown to over one million, and the catalog boasted that Seton offered "America's most complete line of signs, decals, plaques, trophies, tags and labels." [4]

W.H. Brady bought Seton in 1981 when Fenmore Seton retired, [5] and in 1983 the company moved to a new 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m2) plant in Branford. [1] By 1988, Seton's catalog mailings rose to 8 million, and sales in 2002 were $160 million. [1] Fenmore Seton died in 2003, aged 85. [6] Phyllis Seton died on August 8, 2019, at the age of 98. [7]

In 2013, Brady announced the closure of the Branford plant. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bingham, Michael C. (22 January 2002). "One-of-a-Kind Love Affair". Connecticut Business News Journal. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  2. 1 2 Company website
  3. 1 2 Connecticut Industry Magazine: July 1962
  4. 1 2 3 Sticking to It - Brady History Pg. 121
  5. ↑ "Brady looks for direct marketing expansion". Milwaukee Sentinel. 4 June 1987. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  6. ↑ Associated Press (29 May 2003). "Fenmore Seton, 85, Philanthropist". The Hour. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  7. ↑ "Phyllis Z. Seton September 10, 1920 – August 8, 2019". Beecher and Bennett. August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Unknown".[ permanent dead link ]
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