| Arrow Fastener Co.
With staplers and a variety of other hand fastening tools, Arrow Fastener Co. hits the target
By:
Connie Bastyr
Online Rating:
 (10/10) Morris Abrams was a young man when his life became linked with staples: The founder of the Arrow Fastener Co. left high school at age 16 to begin earning his living as a staple salesman. His sales ability was just one of the skills that contributed to the company’s success. From the small business he started in his New York apartment in 1929, Abrams went on to design and develop several staple machines, acquiring patents for his many inventions. And as a businessman, he grasped the merits of diversification, expanding his offerings to include a wide range of staple guns, rivet tools, nailers and fasteners as well. From early on, Abrams diligently reinvested every penny he earned into his fledgling company. But when he married, he was determined to afford a honeymoon despite his tight budget. Abrams worked nights to build extra inventory during the weeks leading up to the wedding. With a car full of products, the couple headed to Canada, selling their wares to stores along the way so they could pay for hotel stays and meals. By the time they reached their destination, the trunk was empty. Ever the salesman, Abrams bought 10-cent can openers at a dime store and sold them door-to-door for 25 cents each so he could afford the trip home. Such ingenuity enabled Abrams to continually expand the company in the years that followed. Even after Arrow Fastener Co. was established as a producer of all kinds of staple machines and staple guns, the company regarded the tools as the basis for repeat sales — primarily of the fasteners used in them. Knowing that each fastening tool that was sold represented future sales of the accompanying fasteners, Arrow manufactured durable machines — as well as the staples, nails and glue to go with them. Abrams’ enterprise eventually became a family business. As a teen-ager, his son, Allan, spent summers working at the company. By the time he was 18, Allan knew the business well enough to run it (and today knows how to operate every piece of equipment in the plant). He began working at Arrow full time after finishing high school and pursued studies in management and marketing at night, earning his college degree in eight years. Like his father, he developed a reputation for being devoted to his work and showing great pride in the company’s products. Allan became president of Arrow in the mid-1960s, and Morris remained actively involved in the business until his death in 1981. Although Masco Corp. purchased the company in 1999, Allan still manages Arrow, and his two sons and a son-in-law are on board as vice presidents. They too are stuck on staples. It’s been 75 years since Morris Abrams’ apartment-size business began to grow toward a 285,000-sq.-ft. plant serving international offices. Today Arrow Fastener Co. manufactures hundreds of products, including stapling machines, hot-melt glue guns, rivet tools and brad nail guns — and of course, the staples, glue and hardware used with them.
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