Acme United history

In 1873, Leo Renz, along with Robert and Mitchell Renz, and John Peck, officially incorporated their business as The Renz Shear Company.

The business continued to grow until in 1878 when Leo Renz passed away.

He moved the operations to Fairfield in 1880, and two years after that incorporated it as The Acme Shear Company.

1882: The business is incorporated as The Acme Shear Company.

1883: Brothers Dwight and David C. Wheeler buy the company.

By 1885, it needed more manufacturing capacity and bought 5 acres on Hicks and Knowlton Streets in Bridgeport, CT. The following year, the first scissors were manufactured at the brand new plant.

Founded in 1900, Altenbach was Germany's third largest manufacturer of quality knives and scissors, with annual sales of about $7 million.

By 1920, Acme Shear was manufacturing 35,000 scissors and shears per day, six days a week.

In 1923, the plant in Bridgeport, CT again had to be expanded to meet rising demand.

In 1936, Acme Shear became the largest scissor and shear manufacturer in the world, a position that Acme United still holds today.

A third generation, Henry C. Wheeler, joined the business in 1939 after graduating from Yale University.

1941: Henry Wheeler is named president.

Aided by World War II, Acme Shear became the world's largest maker of shears and scissors by 1946.

Henry Wheeler added a new title, chief executive officer, in 1953.

In 1960, Acme Shear acquired Surmanco Ltd, a scissors manufacturer in Sheffield, UK with the goal to sell directly to the European market.

1965: The company offers disposable surgical instruments.

Acme Shear marked its 100th anniversary in 1967 and went public on the American Stock Exchange.

To better reflect the company's new business mix the 100-year-old Acme Shear name was dropped in June 1971 in favor of Acme United Corporation.

In 1972, Acme United acquired One Time Package Products Inc., maker of single-use consumer package products, a deal that allowed Acme United to market its own line of products rather than rely on third parties.

1979: Acme lists on the American Stock Exchange.

In 1980, Acme United was named Vendor of the Year by American Hospital Supply for its excellence in disposable medical instruments.

1990: Emil Schlemper GmbH is acquired.

The next major acquisition was completed in October 1991, when Acme United bought Peter Altenbach and Sons GmbH for approximately $1.9 million.

Later in 1992, Acme United reached an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with a New York City company, OPCO Medical Products Ltd., for the OPCO line of patented intravenous therapy products, serving both the hospital and after-care market.

In an attempt to address Acme United's mounting difficulties, reorganization was begun in January 1994.

According to the New Haven Register, in a 1995 profile of Acme United, "The Altenbach purchase turned into a disaster as labor problems and poor cost controls drained earnings.

Altenbach was also sold off in May 1996.

Acme United expanded its North American office products business in 1997 by acquiring the Rotex Division of Esselte Canada.

Also in March 1999, Henry Wheeler died, some 60 years after first joining the company.

The company shied away from low margin products, concentrating instead on value-added products, such as the Tagit! line of student scissors, rulers, staplers, and staple removers introduced in 2000.

Sales improved to $36.2 million in 2001, a 5 percent improvement over the previous year, and net income grew to $1.3 million.

Poor economic conditions caused another setback in 2002, leading to the restructuring of the European unit, with the operations of the United Kingdom plant transferred to Germany.

In addition, in 2003 Acme United opened a Hong Kong subsidiary.

In June 2004, it acquired Clauss Cutlery from Alco Industries.

In 2007, it bought the brand names and intellectual property of Camillus Cutlery Company, one of the oldest knife manufacturers in the United States;

Pac-Kit’s revenues in 2010 were approximately $5.4 million.

In 2011, Acme United acquired Pac-Kit Safety Equipment Company, a manufacturer of first aid kits for the industrial, safety, transportation and marine markets;

In June 2012, it acquired certain assets of The C-Thru Ruler Company, a well-known supplier of drafting, measuring, lettering and stencil products.

In 2013, First Aid Only reached revenues of $17.4 million and operating income of $1.1 million.

The lease for one warehouse was terminated, and the second warehouse, in Fremont, North Carolina, was sold by Acme on April 7, 2014, for $850,000.

At ICAST 2015, twenty additional tools for freshwater fishing were shown to the public for the first time.

In 2016, Acme acquired Diamond Machining Technology, a Marlborough, Massachusetts-based manufacturer of sharpening tools for knives, scissors, chisels and other cutting tools; and