W.B. Mason

W.B. Mason is an American business products company headquartered in Brockton, Massachusetts.

W.B. Mason
TypePrivate
IndustryWorkplace Products
Founded1898 (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 J Meehan Steve Greene John Greene
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
3,800
DivisionsWhattaBargain! Outlet Stores[2]
W.B. Mason Interiors[3]
Websitewww.wbmason.com

The company was founded in 1898 and started out selling rubber stamps and stencils for the Brockton shoe industry; it has since expanded into office supplies, janitorial and sanitation products, break room supplies, foodservice products, custom printing, and other business supplies.

W.B. Mason has 70 distribution centers and 3,800 employees, including 1,000 sales representatives. It leases 1,100 delivery trucks from Ryder, and services more than 300,000 businesses across the United States.[4][5]

History
East facing view of W.B. Mason Headquarters located in the Smith, Bay State Block, and Howard Tolman Buildings[6]
Centre Street Brockton, Massachusetts
(September 2011)

W.B. Mason was founded in 1898 by William Betts Mason in Brockton, Massachusetts, and its corporate headquarters remain in Brockton. 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.

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, 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.

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 Greene's son Steve took over leadership of the company.

In 1983, Steve Greene and his brother, John Greene, took over ownership from their mother and invited long standing employee, Leo Meehan, to join in ownership of the company. 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 the President and CEO of the company. Under Meehan, the company adopted a new corporate strategy focusing on local service, personalized sales, and free delivery. W.B. Mason reached sales of $247 million by 2001.

Ten years later, in 2011, the company reached $1 billion in sales. In November 2013, W.B. Mason partnered with Lyreco to provide international delivery.[7] W.B. Mason is currently owned by the Greene and Meehan families.[8]

William Betts Mason
Mason family grave at Union Cemetery in Brockton, MA.
W.B. Mason's original storefront above the Brockton Enterprise.

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.[9]

He married his first wife Clara W. Belcher of Randolph, Massachusetts in 1892.[10] 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.[11] In 1896 he left S.W.S. Howard and went into business for himself, making specialty brass plates, checks, and rubber stamps.

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.[12] 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 died in 1912. During his life, William Betts Mason sang around Brockton in the Gerrish Male Barbershop Quartet, and was a member of the Brockton-based Paul Revere Lodge of Freemasons. 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:

  • Interior design and contract furniture[13]
  • Discount furniture[14]
  • Custom products (print, ad specialty, apparel)[15]

Advertising
W.B. Mason Logo

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 make 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.

Media advertisement

In 1997 W.B. Mason began advertising on television. Its inaugural commercial was played during the 1997 Super Bowl. Besides their commercials, their trucks, catalogues, and baseball park signage serve as W.B. Mason's different forms of advertising.

Sponsorships

Baseball

W.B. Mason is the "Official Office Products Supplier" to the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays. In October 2017, W.B. Mason announced its first national sports sponsorship as the Official Office Products Supplier of Major League Baseball. W.B. Mason has its corporate logo displayed throughout all nine teams' home ballparks: Fenway Park in Boston, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Yankee Stadium and Citi Field in New York, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Progressive Field in Cleveland, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. 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.[16]

W.B. Mason Baseball Programs
Team Time Show Network
Boston Red Sox Post-Game W.B. Mason's Extra Innings NESN
New York Mets Post-Game W.B. Mason Post Game Live SNY
New York Yankees Post-Game The W.B. Mason Post Game Show YES
Philadelphia Phillies Big Sunday Show W.B. Mason Behind the Pinstripes NBCSP
Pittsburgh Pirates Pregame Pirates Pregame presented by W.B. Mason ATTSN-P
Tampa Bay Rays Post-Game Rays Live delivered by W.B. Mason Fox Sports Sun
Baltimore Orioles Post-Game O's Xtra Post Game Presented by W.B. Mason MASN
Miami Marlins Post-Game Marlins Live delivered by W.B. Mason Fox Sports Florida
Cleveland Indians Mon-Thur Drennan Live STO

Other forms of sponsorship

W.B. Mason also sponsors the Boston Bruins, New England Patriots, New Jersey Devils, Pawtucket Red Sox, Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, and Foxwoods Resort & Casino.

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.[17]

In 2007, W.B. Mason donated $1 million to Brockton Hospital in the name of Helen Greene.[18]

W.B. Mason was a platinum benefactor in the opening of the Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton.[19]

W.B. Mason was the primary donor to W.B. Mason Stadium at Stonehill College.[20]

In 2017 W.B. Mason Donated the John, Steven, and Caryll Greene Cancer Center at Brockton Hospital.[21]

Sustainability

On October 17, 2017 W.B. Mason and Workhorse Group Inc. introduced the first all-electric W.B. Mason truck.[22] The electric vehicle has an average range of 120 miles on a single charge and reduces vehicle emissions by 75%.

W.B. Mason Electric Truck outside of Yankee Stadium

Locations

W.B. Mason has over 60 distribution centers in the United States, and provides nationwide delivery services to its customers. Through its partnership with Lyreco it has worldwide distribution capabilities.[23]

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 2012-12-22.
  3. "W.B. Mason Interiors". W.B. Mason Interiors. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
  4. "Profile: W.B. Mason Co., Inc.", PrivCo, The Private Company Financial Data Authority
  5. Profile: "W.B. Mason Company". Hoover's
  6. Francis, Williams (8 May 2015). "CENTRE AND MONTELLO STREETS HISTORIC DISTRICT, BROCKTON, APPROVED FOR NOMINATION TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES" (PDF). MA.Gov.
  7. "Lyreco joins hand with W.B. Mason for US contract"
  8. College, Stonehill. "Who But Leo Meehan? · Stonehill College". www.stonehill.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  9. "Ancestry - Sign In". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  10. "Ancestry - Sign In". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  11. "Ask the Globe: Who was the famous W.B. Mason, who founded the Brockton-based office furniture and supplies store?", The Boston Globe, January 9, 2001
  12. "Join Ancestry". search.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  13. "W.B. Mason Interiors". Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  14. "W.B. Mason's WhattaBargain -". www.whattabargain.com. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  15. "W.B. Mason". www.wbmason.com. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  16. "www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2003/04/07/daily29.html". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  17. "WB Mason CEO Leo Meehan donates $10 million for business school at Stonehill College". The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  18. "Helen Greene Cardiac Catheterization Suite | Services". www.signature-healthcare.org. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  19. "Trinity Catholic Academy". www.trinitycatholicacademybrockton.org. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  20. "W.B. Mason Stadium". Stonehill. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  21. "Greene Cancer Center". Signature Healthcare. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  22. "Ryder Electric Vehicles Produced by Workhorse Arrive into W.B. Mason's Business Product Delivery Fleet". www.businesswire.com. 2018-03-22. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  23. Andy Braithwaite (November 7, 2013). "Lyreco teams up with WB Mason for US contract partnership". Opi.net.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.