CURRIES History

1958 - 2008

CURRIES, located in Mason City, Iowa, has evolved from a turn of the century hardware store to a leading manufacturer of stock, standard and custom steel doors and frames. Family controlled and operated until the mid-1980's, the hollow metal manufacturing operation began in 1958 at the present door manufacturing facility.

Cory Currie, entrepreneur, founded this family company that would be managed by four generations of Currie family descendants.

Born near Toronto, Canada in 1847, Cory Currie left home when he was 18 years old to work in a general store in Oshawa. An 1869 trip to Wisconsin for a visit with relatives found Currie teaching school near Fox Lake, Wisconsin where he met Louisa Bond whom he married in 1871. Arriving in Iowa via covered wagon, Currie passed through Mason City on May 13, 1870 on his way to a homestead near Titonka, Iowa some 45 miles to the northwest. He lived in Titonka where he farmed in the summer experiencing grass fires and the "grasshopper year" of 1873. Cory taught school during the winter terms. In 1880, Currie moved to Mason City where he worked for the Milwaukee Railroad as a fireman and engineer for three years. From 1884 to 1895 Cory operated a restaurant in downtown Mason City.

Cory Currie started his son Frank R. Currie in the hardware business in 1892 by purchasing one-third interest in the Dagget & Schwie Hardware Company of Mason City. This marks the beginning of the Currie family in the hardware business. In 1895, Cory Currie sold the restaurant business and bought out his son's two partners Dagget & Schwie and established C. Currie & Son.

Father and son continued in business partnership with J.A. Van Ness in 1921 who became secretary of the corporation. The store was called the Currie-Van Ness Co. until 1948. Tragedy struck on November 21, 1937 in the form of a fire in downtown Mason City. The Currie-Van Ness Co. was totally consumed along with the Olympia Cafe where the fire apparently originated early that Sunday morning. Loss at the hardware store was estimated to be $50,000.00 in inventory alone. At the time of the fire, Frank Currie and his family were on their way to California for a vacation, but were contacted in Oklahoma and returned to Mason City immediately. Not one to be stymied by this disaster, Frank located retail space at 20-22 East State St. (which was the original location in 1892) and was back in business in April, 1938.

This was the home of the retail hardware store until it was sold to Mason City businessmen Jack Carlson, Vice President and Manager, and Jim Thilges in 1978. Ironically this location was destroyed by fire in August that same year.

Frank's son Richard L. Currie joined the company in 1936 and became President after World War II. He managed the business until it was sold, serving as President of the National Retail Hardware Association in 1973-74. Contract hardware became a prominent part of the business with the local builders after World War II. This division of CURRIES Hardware would soon branch off and become CURRIES Contract Hardware Department. In 1956, Dick Currie and Max Sawyer, Contract Division Manager, realized that hollow metal doors and frames would be a natural to go with hardware. They began purchasing doors from a company in Ohio. At this time CURRIES was serving their local market as a contract hardware and hollow metal distributor. Soon they realized that manufacturers' delivery times were not going to meet the requirements of their customers. After all, CURRIES was known for its service.

 

40 Years  (1958-1998)

CURRIES purchased its original equipment including a shear, press brake, spot welder and a punch press, complete with tooling in 1958, and the manufacturing of steel door frames began. The Currie family invested their money in the future of this fledgling operation. Original employees of CURRIES Manufacturing, as it was known at the time, were brought in because of their talents and craftsmanship.

 

The Contract Division handled various products in its beginning along with hardware and hollow metal. A 1962 advertisement for the annual Window and Door Sale lists aluminum storm doors, 2 and 3 track aluminum storm windows, awnings and railings.

 
Max Sawyer was given the leadership role of the Contract Division. He brought Bill Kasik Sr. with him from the hardware store to manage the daily operations. Sawyer was the sales oriented individual who would work with architects and contractors to acquire the contract work.

Kasik helped Sawyer organize the manufacturing facility and assemble the work force and continued his career with CURRIES until retirement in 1992. In 1958, a single plant employee was hired to weld manufactured frames and modify the doors as required. That individual was Burt Lieuwen. Bert continued to work for CURRIES into the 70's. Jack Colby joined CURRIES in early 1959 as the second plant employee. Jack's dedication and work ethic typify the quality work force available to CURRIES throughout the years. Another skilled craftsman, Don Picken, began his manufacturing career shortly after Jack. Don worked steadfastly throughout his career and became the ultimate resource for information on hardware and hollow metal. It was Don Picken and Ed Colby (Jack's brother) who actually built the first hollow metal door CURRIES ever assembled.

Growth was inevitable with the CURRIES reputation, but the rate of growth in this company was at times phenomenal in comparison to other companies. CURRIES started in 1958 with one employee and 4,100 square feet of shop space. By the next year a 3,500 square foot addition was completed and employees numbered nine.

In ten years, the company was utilizing 108,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space and employees numbered over fifty. During the next ten years, the number of employees grew to over two hundred and additional manufacturing space was also added with a major addition of 25,000 square feet in 1977. Sales grew over 300% in one five year period from 1973-1978. This growth has been credited to several factors preceding and during this time period:
• Decision to start marketing products on a nationwide basis.
• Decision to manufacture a "stock product" that distributors could inventory and sell off the shelf.

 

Given the task of setting up distributors to sell CURRIES products, Max Sawyer hired Dick Amick in 1970 to procure these distributors on a nationwide basis. The first couple of years were pretty slow since Dick was selling products that the factories could not yet manufacture. Several large orders had to be returned to distributors because the products were unavailable. By 1972, things were falling into place with the distributor network. Unfortunately, Max Sawyer's untimely death that year was a temporary setback.

Dick Currie hired Carl B. Frank in October, 1973 to operate the manufacturing business. Frank had a background suited to fill the needs of CURRIES. His organizational skills, an understanding of tooling and equipment plus knowledge of the market place were the primary assets Frank gave CURRIES. Growth in the next few years was truly amazing. Manufacturing expansions occurred, new products were developed, sales and profitability were positively affected.

 
Upholding the family tradition; In 1967, Jerry N. Currie, son of Dick Currie, joined the company as a fourth generation businessman. A University of Iowa graduate with a degree in Business Administration, Jerry soon became Secretary of CURRIES Manufacturing, Inc. Jerry's tutelage in this business began while working with his father at the hardware store, then with Max Sawyer, and Carl Frank at CURRIES. In 1985, after Frank's passing, Jerry was named President of the company.

Under Jerry's leadership, CURRIES has continued to grow. A new office building was constructed in 1988, and in 1994, a 218,000 square foot frame manufacturing facility was completed on 12th St. N.W. in Mason City. Doors are produced in a 180,000 square foot facility at the original 9th St. location. CURRIES' employees number close to 900. Service Centers with large stock inventories of product are located in Easton, PA, Austell, GA, Corona, CA, and the new 53,000 square foot Distribution Center in Mason City at the 12th St. facility, which was completed in the fall of 1997.

Ownership of CURRIES has been very attractive over recent times. CURRIES was a privately held corporation until 1971. At that time, Dick Currie decided to allow the manufacturing company to become a publicly held corporation and offered stock for sale on the open market. This proved to be the boost for the assets of the company that was needed at the time. Upon expressing a desire to retire from the business, Dick Currie negotiated a cash buyout of all outstanding shareholders in April, 1984. Walter M. Kidde Corporation purchased CURRIES and merged the company into its Security Division, which included Sargent Manufacturing, McKinney Products, and Arrow Lock.

Kidde spun off its Security Division to L.B. Foster in February, 1986. In August, 1987 LB. Foster spun off the Security Division to Beacon Capital, a Toronto based Holding Company. The Security Division was renamed ESSEX Industries. In December, 1988, Beacon Capital spun off ESSEX to Merrill Lynch Capital Partners. In July, 1989 Merrill Lynch Capital Partners merged ESSEX with Amstar Corporation forming ESSTAR, Inc. The final ownership change occurred for CURRIES when the ESSEX Companies were purchased by ASSA ABLOY AB of Stockholm, Sweden in January,  1996. Management at CURRIES has remained constant during all of the mergers and acquisitions of the 80's and 90's.

 

The Last 10 Years

Leaping into the 21st century was just as exciting for CURRIES as it was for everyone else. Our dependency on computers precipitated fears of a Y2K glitch occurring on December 31, 1999.

This year of 2008 marks our 50th year in the steel door and frame business. We enjoy an excellent relationship with our parent company, ASSA ABLOY, located in Stockholm, Sweden. ASSA ABLOY is the global leader in door opening solutions dedicated to satisfying end-user needs for security, safety, and convenience. With more than 150 companies operating throughout the world, ASSA ABLOY has the strongest global presence in our industry. 

CURRIES is part of the ASSA ABLOY Door Group which consists of North American sister companies GRAHAM (located at 9th St. SE in Mason City), CECO (Milan, TN), DOMINION (Houston, TX), and FLEMING BARON (Canada).

Jerry Currie continues at the helm of CURRIES, backed by a team of managers and support staff who handle day-to-day operations.

In October, 1999 CURRIES moved office operations into a new 44,000 square foot building adjoining the 12th St. NW frame facility.  This move provided the needed space for growing business in the next century. The door facility remains at the original 9th St. SE location. The combined manufacturing space is 457,000 square feet at two locations in Mason City. A satellite manufacturing facility is now producing frame products in Easton, Pennsylvania, which provides the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic distributor network a quick turnaround on many products. Eight regional service centers are capable of welding frames and transferring product shipments needed in the respective regions. Six of these service centers inventory regionalized stock door & frame products that are ready to be shipped or picked up by local distributors.

Technologies have expanded in the last ten years. Several robots generate products with exceptional consistency and lasting duration. Laser technology configures many CURRIES products that were traditionally tool and die punch operations. The frame roll forming equipment continues to be enhanced with a ten fold reduction in set-up time.

In 2004, CURRIES initiated a continuous improvement process for implementing “lean manufacturing.” Using new manufacturing processes while maintaining a focus on providing quality products and exceptional customer support are the driving forces of CURRIES success.

Growth has been positive over the last ten years, and CURRIES is the leading domestic manufacturer of steel doors and frames in the non-residential market. The nationwide distributor network numbers almost 300 stocking distributors who serve their local markets.

CURRIES doors and frames are available through ASSA ABLOY Door Security Solutions, a nationwide specification consulting, technical support and job-site assistance.

CURRIES has had great success during the first 50 years, and we anticipate many more successful years. From a centralized location in the U.S., 950 employees from nearly 50 surrounding Iowa communities have made CURRIES what it is today. Another 130 employees are located throughout the country in the regional service centers.

As an active member in the Steel Door Institute, National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers, and the Door and Hardware Institute, CURRIES takes pride in the products and services it provides to end-users.