Franks Industries history

By 1854, Andrew H. Frank was in business making woodworking machinery, including mortisers, tenoners, and window-blind machinery; he operated as A. H. Frank.

By 1872 Frank had taken a partner, George Spire, and they were operating as Frank & Co.

Beginning in 1875 they made bandsaws as well.

Their smallest planer had a capacity of 12.5" x 4" and cost $50 in 1876.

An 1879 article says that they have been making bandsaws for the past four years.

An 1886 article features a Frank & Co. table saw with a "National Saw Guard"—a splitter with an anti-kickback pawl—which was surely one of the earliest examples of that important safety device.

On March 15, 1888, three men bought the business from A. H. Frank.

George Whitcomb's Buffalo Directory for 1893 lists Frank & Co. and various workers for that firm.

Tannin from red oak trees in the area enabled Frank’s tannery to produce “the strongest leather in the world.” By 1897 Frank’s Tannery became a large -scale industry with business contacts all over the world.

July 1901 Carpentry and Building.The Frank Machinery Company of 50 to 54 Mechanic street, Buffalo, N. Y., have just issued a very attractive catalogue of 96 pages. illustrating and describing the leading lines of wood working machinery which they manufacture.

After the 1906 earthquake Japanese immigrants began settling in San Mateo County.

In 1907 Japanese immigrant brothers Eikichi and Sadakusi Enomoto began growing chrysanthemums in Redwood City and shipping them nationwide.

The September 1912 issue of Wood Craft lists Frank Machinery Co. as a maker of band saws, box makers machinery, cut-off saws, jointers, pattern-shop machinery, planing mill machinery, rip-sawing machines, saw tables, shapers, and swing saws.

Batory lists an April 1, 1922 brochure from Victory Foundry & Machine Co., Inc., for a "Light Economist Planer and Matcher, Single Surface". Batory's catalog cross-references Frank & Co. to this entry, which suggests that Frank & Co. became Victory at some point.

By 1926 Redwood City was being proclaimed as the “Chrysanthemum Center of the World” with a local income exceeding $7 million.

The flower industry began to expand to other nearby cities and in 1931 the California Chrysanthemum Growers Association was founded for growers located in the Bay Area.

Frank's history may be traced to 1942, when Frank Sherr and his nephew Max Weinberg opened a food market, known as Frank's Market, on the northeast side of Detroit.

In 1949 Sherr and Weinberg opened a greenhouse on a vacant lot across the street from the market to accommodate the growing number of annuals and perennials the market offered.

The business thrived, and in 1957 the company--by then four stores strong--incorporated, becoming Frank's Nursery Sales, Inc.

Due to the decline in the industry’s growth, Franks closed its doors in 1959.

By 1965 Frank's owned 18 stores throughout Michigan, and its sales were $11.35 million, with a net income of $509,000.

The first Frank's Trims, a store which sold only craft goods, was opened in 1966.

In 1973 Frank's opened its first four Illinois stores in suburban Chicago.

By the time of the company's 25th anniversary in 1974, 51 Frank's stores were in operation in five states, employing some 1,200 workers in high season.

Sales in 1980 reached $119.3 million on revenues rung up at 80 stores.

General Host bought 96 percent of Frank's shares in a $19-a-share tender offer in March 1983; the value of the sale was thus approximately $42.4 million.

In 1984 General Host sold off the profitable Van de Camp's Frozen Foods unit and Little General convenience stores, while bolstering its gardening centers through the acquisition of the East Coast-based merchandiser Flower Time, Inc.

In 1991 the first of Frank's stand-alone Christmas stores, Christmas by Frank's, opened.

In April 1993 General Host purchased Pier 1 Imports' 49.5 percent interest in Sunbelt, which consisted of over 100 lawn-and-garden centers under various names, including Wolfe Nursery in Texas and Oklahoma, Tip Top Nursery in Arizona, and Nurseryland in California.

By 1994, in fact, General Host's headlong expansion had come to an end, as a series of new stores proved unprofitable.

Written by Peretti, Frank E., published by Crossway (2003)

Violatti, C. (2014, December 23). Franks.