We used to make things in this country. #42: Beach Industries, Smiths Falls, Ontario

In 1949, Russ Beach started a company in Smiths Falls, Ontario making metal toolboxes.  He began with only 12 employees but by the 1980's Beach Industries Limited  had become Canada's largest metal box manufacturer, with 200 employees and sales of over $20 million.  Beach toolboxes found their way into the catalogues of Canadian Tire, Sears and Eaton's and from there into workshops all over the country.  The company made more than toolboxes:  their offerings included various kinds of metal boxes, such as the money box below:

They also made workbenches.  I got the one below free at the end of a driveway last spring.  It was cosmetically challenged, so I painted it with some silver paint I had laying around, and had to have keys made for the locks.  It would originally have had drawers on the left-hand side, but these were unfortunately missing so I've just put shelves in instead.

Russ Beach himself was a remarkable philanthropist, gifting over $1 million to the local hospital over the years and then leaving them his 3,000 square foot luxury condo after he passed away in 1995.

He was also an avid flyer.  He continued to fly his own Cessna Citation jet after he turned 80, making him the country's oldest active jet pilot.  He was the president of Canada's largest member national aviation association, the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA).  The local airport is named after him, and is the home of Classic Wings, a private collection of fully-operational vintage aircraft.

In 1987, Mr. Beach turned 77 and sold his company to Stanley Tools, the Connecticut tool giant, which lost no time in taking down the Beach Industries Sign which had stood at the plant entrance for almost 40 years.  In 2008, while enjoying $4.5 billion dollars in sales, Stanley announced that the Smiths Falls plant would be closed, ostensibly the result of a change in corporate strategy, high steel prices and a decline in the American dollar.  They further explained that they were leaving the $25 million annual consumer tool box business to focus on "higher growth, higher return markets."  The closure of the Smiths Falls plant was announced on Canada Day, when most of the employees were off work enjoying the national holiday.  About 175 jobs were lost, and production of tool boxes was slated to move to an Ohio plant.  As one Ottawa commentator remarked, "Think global, die local."  "Uncle Buck," the site owner of the Garage Gazette, later had this to say:  "Stanley, Black and Decker, and Irwin. The grim reapers of the tool world. As soon as those names enter the picture you just know what follows will not be pretty!"

To have a look at what Beach Industries used to offer, someone has thoughtfully posted a 1971 catalogue in pdf at Mediafire.com.

1971 Catalogue

Sadly, a visitor has reported that the recent attempt to revive the company failed.  In fact, G.H. Metals closed down in late October 2015.  In a press release they stated:

Closing the plant was not a conscious decision by the management staff, but rather a necessary reality. We fought against the closure for as long as we could. The widespread collapse of the manufacturing sector over the past decade, both in Smiths Falls and in Canada, is a shame, and has been detrimental to the community and families across the country. 

We are tremendously saddened at the loss of 23 jobs in the community. As a company, we have continually strived to support our employees, as well as local and Canadian businesses, because we see first-hand how important they are to the community and to families.