W. B. Mason

Last updated

W. B. Mason
Company type Private
IndustryWorkplace products
Founded1898;126 years ago (1898)
Brockton, Massachusetts, U.S.
FounderWilliam Betts Mason
Headquarters
59 Centre Street Brockton, Massachusetts
,
U.S.
Number of locations
60+
Area served
United States
Key people
Leo Meehan
ProductsOffice supplies
Paper
Ink & toner
Technology
Foodservice
Shipping & packaging
Facilities maintenance
Safety
Break room furniture
Coffee & water
School supplies
Custom products
Revenue$1.8 billion [1]
Number of employees
2,500
Divisions WhattaBargain! outlet stores [2]
W.B. Mason Interiors [3]
Website www.wbmason.com

W. B. Mason is an American business products company headquartered in Brockton, Massachusetts. The company is known for its colorful delivery vehicles.

Contents

The company was founded in 1897 and started out selling rubber stamps and stencils for the Brockton shoe industry. It has since expanded into office supplies, janitorial and sanitation products, shipping and packaging materials, break room and coffee supplies, foodservice products, custom printing, and other business supplies.

W. B. Mason has over 60 distribution centers and leases over 1,000 delivery trucks from Ryder, servicing more than 300,000 businesses across the United States. [4] [5]

History

On February 25, 1897, The American Stationer reported that William Betts Mason "has opened an office in the City Block at Brockton, Mass." with plans to "manufacture rubber stamps, stencils, and other articles of a like nature." [6] By March 25, it was reported as a rubber stamp store. [7]

The company started as a business that sold printed products, engraved products, and rubber stamps. As the city of Brockton expanded in the early 20th century, largely due to the shoe industry, W. B. Mason expanded its sales offerings to include office supplies.[ citation needed ]

In 1901, W. B. Mason's rubber stamps store received a $1.50 disbursement from the City Engineer of Brockton, Massachusetts alongside 24 other businesses, some of whom received over $100. [8] By 1912, it was referred to as a "stamp, stencil, and printing business." [9]

William Betts Mason ran the company until his death in 1912. The Mason family continued to oversee the company until the 1920s under William's wife, Marcena. In the late 1920s, W. B. Mason was sold to an employee and Brockton businessman, Samuel Kovner, [10] who started his career out by sweeping the floors at W. B. Mason as a boy. Under Kovner, the company reached sales of $243,000.[ citation needed ]

W. B. Mason's original storefront above the Brockton Enterprise, 1940 DelanoBrockton.jpg
W. B. Mason's original storefront above the Brockton Enterprise , 1940

Later 20th century

In 1963, Kovner sold the company to his daughter and son-in-law, Helen and Joseph Greene. The Greenes added furniture to the business and the company reached nearly a million dollars in sales by Greene's death in 1973. The Greenes' son Steve took over leadership of the company. [11]

In 1983, Steve Greene and his brother, John Greene, took over ownership from their mother and invited longstanding employee, Leo Meehan, to join in ownership of the company. [12]

Branding

In 1986, the company introduced its slogan, "Who But W. B. Mason." The slogan was later combined with a portrait of William Betts Mason to form their current corporate logo. The logo features two U.S. flags flanking the portrait of W. B. Mason, one with 50 stars to represent the current state of the union, and the other with 45 stars, the configuration at the time of the company's founding.[ citation needed ]

Ownership

In 1993, Steve Greene replaced his mother Helen Greene as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. At this point, the company's sales were $20 million. Upon Greene's appointment to the board, Leo Meehan became President and CEO. Under Meehan, the company focused on local service, personalized sales, and free delivery. W. B. Mason reached sales of $247 million by 2001.[ citation needed ]

In 1997, W. B. Mason began advertising on television. Its first commercial aired during the 1997 Super Bowl. Besides commercials, their trucks, catalogues, and baseball park signage are its advertising.[ citation needed ]

In 2011, the company reached $1 billion in sales. In November 2013, W. B. Mason began working with France-based Lyreco to provide international delivery. [13] W. B. Mason is currently owned by the Greene and Meehan families. [14]

Pandemic pivot

In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, W. B. Mason began delivering its office products to homes, a service it had declined to pursue in the past. CEO Meehan told The Wall Street Journal logistics and costs had previously prevented the move. W. B. Mason at that time also debuted a consumer-facing website. The Journal said the company's revenue was then about $2 billion, and its employee count was about 1,900, down from 4,000 before the pandemic. [15]

William Betts Mason

William Betts Mason
BornMarch 15, 1865
Auckland, New Zealand
DiedMay 12, 1912 (aged 47)
OccupationBusinessman


William Betts Mason was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1865. After his father's death in 1871, he immigrated to the United States with his grandmother Agnes Dunn Bettridge, mother Janet C. Mason (née Bettridge) and sisters Sarah, Eliza, and Eadith Mason. In 1872 his family moved to Brockton, at the time known as North Bridgewater, to live with Janet's brother Arthur J.C. Bettridge. Mason's first occupation was as a counter maker and trimmer in Brockton. [16] [ better source needed ]

He married his first wife Clara W. Belcher of Randolph, Massachusetts in 1892. [17] He continued to work in the counter making field until 1893, at which point he went to work for S.W.S. Howard, a local printing company. [18] In 1896 he left S.W.S. Howard and went into business for himself, making specialty brass plates, checks, and rubber stamps.

W. B. Mason delivery truck W.B. Mason's Delivery Truck.jpg
W. B. Mason delivery truck

In 1898, Mason founded the W. B. Mason Company as a rubber stamp and stencil company. W. B. Mason continues to manufacture its own rubber stamps today. In December 1905, Mason married his second wife, Marcena D. Horton of Bristol, Rhode Island. [19] She ran the company from the time of Mason's death in 1912 until Samuel Kovner's acquisition of the company in the late 1920s.

Mason sang around Brockton in the Gerrish Male Barbershop Quartet, and was a member of the Brockton-based Paul Revere Lodge of Freemasons.

Mason died in 1912. He was buried at Union Cemetery, a half mile from W. B. Mason headquarters. He left no children.

Products and services

W. B. Mason provides products for the workplace. On www.wbmason.com the primary product lines include office and school supplies, paper, janitorial supplies, furniture, food and break room supplies, technology and electronics, food service, and custom print.

W. B. Mason also provides the following services:

Sponsorships

Baseball

W. B. Mason is the "Official Office Products Supplier" to the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies. W. B. Mason has its corporate logo displayed throughout several teams' home ballparks including Fenway Park in Boston, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and Yankee Stadium in New York. In 2003 W. B. Mason placed its first ball park advertisement on the Green Monster at Fenway Park; this was the first advertisement painted on the Green Monster since 1947. [23]

W. B. Mason baseball programs
TeamTimeShowNetwork
Boston Red Sox Post-gameW. B. Mason's Extra Innings NESN
New York Yankees Post-gameThe W. B. Mason Post Game Show YES
W. B. Mason electric truck outside of Yankee Stadium W.B. Mason Electric Truck.jpg
W. B. Mason electric truck outside of Yankee Stadium

Philanthropy and initiatives

Projects

In June 2017 W. B. Mason announced a $10 million donation to the Leo J. Meehan School of Business at Stonehill College in Easton, a few miles from Brockton. Stonehill is the alma mater of the current president and CEO. This was the second largest donation in the school's history. The business school opened in August 2019. It houses Stonehill's accounting, finance, international business, management, marketing, economics and healthcare administration programs. [24]

In 2007, W. B. Mason donated $1 million to Brockton Hospital in the name of Helen Greene. [25]

W. B. Mason was a platinum benefactor in the opening of the Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton. [26]

W. B. Mason was the primary donor to W. B. Mason Stadium at Stonehill College. [27]

In 2017 W. B. Mason donated the John, Steven, and Caryll Greene Cancer Center at Brockton Hospital. [28]

Sustainability

On October 17, 2017 W. B. Mason and Workhorse Group Inc. introduced the first all-electric W. B. Mason truck. The vehicle has an average range of 120 miles on a single charge and reduces vehicle emissions by 75%. [29]

Locations

W. B. Mason has over 60 distribution centers in the United States, and provides nationwide delivery services to its customers.[ citation needed ]

Controversies

In October 2018, the company was sued for trademark infringement by Bloomington, Minnesota-based Dairy Queen — owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Nebraska and doing business as American Dairy Queen Corp. [30] — over using the term "Blizzard" and logo for its private-label bottled water. [31] [32] A federal judge in June 2022 ruled in favor of W. B. Mason, allowing them to continue to use the name and logo. [33] W. B. Mason's attorneys, Nixon Peabody, called it "a complete win" for the company, [34] and NBC Boston described it as a W. B. Mason "victory." [35]

In April 2023, W. B. Mason agreed to a $5.65 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit claiming it failed to provide commissioned sales representatives with notice the company was changing commission terms.

The settlement benefits three classes: the New Jersey Class, the New York Class and the Pennsylvania Class.

The New Jersey Class includes individuals who worked for W. B. Mason as a commissioned sales representative based or working in New Jersey since April 2, 2015.

The New York Class includes individuals who worked for W. B. Mason as a commissioned sales representative based or working in New York since April 2, 2015.

The Pennsylvania Class includes individuals who worked for W. B. Mason as a commissioned sales representative based or working in Pennsylvania since April 28, 2017.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dairy Queen</span> American multinational fast food chain

Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American multinational fast food chain founded in 1940 and currently headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. The first Dairy Queen was owned and operated by Sherb Noble and first opened on June 22, 1940, in Joliet, Illinois. It serves a variety of hot and fried food, as well as original frozen dairy products that vary from location to location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office supplies</span> Consumables and equipment regularly used in offices

Office supplies are consumables and equipment regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, by individuals engaged in written communications, recordkeeping or bookkeeping, janitorial and cleaning, and for storage of supplies or data. The range of items classified as office supplies varies, and typically includes small, expendable, daily use items, consumable products, small machines, higher cost equipment such as computers, as well as office furniture and art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saputo Dairy UK</span> British dairy products company

Saputo Dairy UK, formerly Dairy Crest Limited, is a British dairy products company. It was created in 2019 when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981 as a spin-off of the Milk Marketing Board. Its brands include Saputo Dairy UK, Cathedral City Cheddar Cheese, Country Life Butter, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Clover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange Julius</span> American chain of fruit drink beverage stores

Orange Julius is an American chain of beverage stores, known for a frothy fruit drink also called an Orange Julius. The chain has been in business since the late 1920s. The signature beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites and vanilla flavoring. Most stores are located inside shopping malls.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is an American company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing, and sales of replacement automobile and truck tires, and has subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle, and racing tires. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has 60 manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical, and design facilities within its worldwide family of subsidiary companies, including the UK-based Avon Tyres brand, which produces tires for motorcycles, road cars, and race cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonehill College</span> Catholic college in Easton, Massachusetts, US

Stonehill College is a private Catholic college in Easton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on the original estate of Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr., with 29 buildings that complement the original Georgian-style Ames mansion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carter's Ink Company</span>

Carter's Ink Company was an American manufacturer of ink and related products, based first in Boston and later in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was once the largest ink manufacturer in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry's Ice Cream</span> American ice cream company

Perry's Ice Cream is an ice cream manufacturer located in Akron, New York. Perry's sells and distributes primarily to New York, Western Pennsylvania, New England, and Northeast Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwan's Company</span> American food company, 1952–2019

Schwan's Company, formerly known as The Schwan Food Company, is a food company with approximately 8,500 employees. It originated in the United States as a family-owned business and in 2019 became a subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang of South Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essendant</span> American office supply distributor

Essendant Inc., formerly known as United Stationers, is a national wholesale distributor of office supplies, with consolidated net sales of $5.3 billion. Essendant serves 30,000 reseller customers and stocks over 160,000 items, including traditional office products, office furniture, janitorial and break room supplies, industrial supplies, and technology products. Essendant is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois and also has operations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Oberweis Dairy, headquartered in North Aurora, Illinois, is the parent company of several dairy-related and fast food restaurant operations in the midwest region of the United States. Its businesses include a home delivery service available in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin, which delivers traditional dairy products, including milk, ice cream, cheese, and yogurt, as well as bacon and seasonal products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunder Mifflin</span> Fictional paper company from American TV series "The Office"

Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. is a fictional paper and office supplies wholesale company featured in the American television series The Office. It is analogous to Wernham Hogg in the British original of the series, and Papiers Jennings and Cogirep in the French Canadian and French adaptations, respectively. Originally, the company was completely fictitious, but eventually, the brand was used to sell products at Staples and other office supply outlets.

Overstock, excessive stock, or excess inventory arise when there is more than the "right quantity" of goods available for sale, or when "the potential sales value of excess stock, less the expected storage costs, does not match the salvage value". It arises as a result of poor management of stock demand or of material flow in process management. Excessive stock is also associated with loss of revenue owing to additional capital bound with the purchase or simply storage space taken. Excessive stock can result from over delivery from a supplier or from poor ordering and management of stock by a buyer for the stock. Excess or unnecessary inventory is listed as one of the seven wastes or "muda" in Taiichi Ohno's Toyota production system.

Müller Milk & Ingredients, formerly Robert Wiseman Dairies and later Müller Wiseman Dairies, is the largest milk supplier and distributor in Great Britain. It is part of the Müller UK & Ireland Group, owned by the German Müller family.

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. is a manufacturer of electric wire and optical fiber cables. Its headquarters are in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The company's shares are listed in the first section of the Tokyo, Nagoya Stock Exchanges, and the Fukuoka Stock Exchange. In the period ending March 2021, the company reported consolidated sales of US$26,5 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonehill Skyhawks</span> Intercollegiate athletics teams of Stonehill College

The Stonehill Skyhawks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Stonehill College, located in Easton, Massachusetts, in NCAA sporting competitions. All current Skyhawk athletic teams compete at the Division I level, with most being members of the Northeast Conference (NEC). Stonehill has been a member of the NEC since 2022.

Delamere Dairy is a UK-based company founded in 1985, producing goats milk and other dairy products such as cheeses and yoghurts, sold in supermarkets and other outlets nationally as well as in Ireland, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Middle East and Caribbean. Delamere Dairy is a member of a British Cheese Board.

In marketing, premiums are promotional items — toys, collectables, souvenirs and household products — that are linked to a product, and often require proofs of purchase such as box tops or tokens to acquire. The consumer generally has to pay at least the shipping and handling costs to receive the premium. Premiums are sometimes referred to as prizes, although historically the word "prize" has been used to denote an item that is packaged with the product and requires no additional payment over the cost of the product.

W.B. Mason Stadium is a 2,400-seat multi-purpose stadium in Easton, Massachusetts. It is the home of the Stonehill Skyhawks field hockey, football, lacrosse, and track & field programs. The stadium has a FieldTurf surface and a 400-meter eight-lane track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office supply retailing</span> Commercial trade of office supplies

Office supply retailing is the commercial trade of stationery and other office supplies.

References

  1. ↑ "W.B. Mason Company Expands Fleet and Strengthens 30-Year Partnership With Ryder", Ryder press release, Miami, Florida, July 21, 2010
  2. ↑ "W.B. Mason's WhattaBargain Outlet Stores". Wbswhattabargain.com. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "W.B. Mason Interiors". W.B. Mason Interiors. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Profile: W.B. Mason Co., Inc.", PrivCo, The Private Company Financial Data Authority
  5. ↑ Profile: "W.B. Mason Company". Hoover's
  6. ↑ The American Stationer. Howard Lockwood. 25 February 1897. p. 297.
  7. ↑ The American Stationer. Howard Lockwood. 25 March 1897. p. 469.
  8. ↑ Annual Report of the City Engineer of the City of Brockton for the Year Ending ... L.H. Lane. 1898.
  9. ↑ Commercial Stamp Trade Journal. 1912.
  10. ↑ Mason, William Betts (5 August 2021). "W.B. Mason, A History: Part 4". W.B. Mason's Blog. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  11. ↑ Mason, William Betts (5 August 2021). "W.B. Mason, A History: Part 4". W.B. Mason's Blog. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Mason, William Betts (5 August 2021). "W.B. Mason, A History: Part 4". W.B. Mason's Blog. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  13. ↑ "Lyreco joins hand with W.B. Mason for US contract"
  14. ↑ "Who But Leo Meehan?". www.stonehill.edu. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  15. ↑ FitzGerald, Drew (28 May 2020). "Office-Supply Company Makes a Pivot—to Your Home Office". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  16. ↑ "Ancestry - Sign In". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "Ancestry - Sign In". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  18. ↑ "Ask the Globe: Who was the famous W.B. Mason, who founded the Brockton-based office furniture and supplies store?" [ dead link ], The Boston Globe, January 9, 2001
  19. ↑ "Register" . search.ancestry.com. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "W.B. Mason Interiors" . Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  21. ↑ "W.B. Mason's WhattaBargain -". www.whattabargain.com. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  22. ↑ "W.B. Mason". www.wbmason.com. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  23. ↑ "www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2003/04/07/daily29.html". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  24. ↑ "WB Mason CEO Leo Meehan donates $10 million for business school at Stonehill College". The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  25. ↑ "Helen Greene Cardiac Catheterization Suite | Services". www.signature-healthcare.org. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  26. ↑ "Trinity Catholic Academy". www.trinitycatholicacademybrockton.org. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  27. ↑ "W.B. Mason Stadium". Stonehill. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  28. ↑ "Greene Cancer Center". Signature Healthcare. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  29. ↑ "Ryder Electric Vehicles Produced by Workhorse Arrive into W.B. Mason's Business Product Delivery Fleet". www.businesswire.com. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  30. ↑ Chesto, Jon (20 June 2022). "Federal judge rules W.B. Mason's use of 'Blizzard' doesn't infringe on Dairy Queen's trademark". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  31. ↑ "Minn.-Based Dairy Queen Takes Mass. Company To Court Over Use Of 'Blizzard' Name?". minnesota.cbslocal.com. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  32. ↑ "Am. Dairy Queen Corp. v. W.B. Mason Co., 18-CV-693 (SRN/ECW) | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  33. ↑ Stempel, Jonathan (21 June 2022). "Warren Buffett's Dairy Queen loses lawsuit over 'Blizzard' name". Reuters. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  34. ↑ "WB Mason can continue using Blizzard name, wins federal lawsuit against Dairy Queen". Nixon Peabody LLP. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  35. ↑ Ryan, Greg (21 June 2022). "W.B. Mason Defeats Dairy Queen in 'Blizzard' Trademark Fight". NBC Boston. Retrieved 29 July 2023.

42°5′2.0″N71°1′5.6″W / 42.083889°N 71.018222°W / 42.083889; -71.018222

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.