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Proposed Changes - S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc.[edit]

Wax86 (talk) 16:31, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

S. C. Johnson & Son (commonly referred to as S. C. Johnson, previously S. C. Johnson Wax and Johnson Wax) is an American multinational privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsin.[1] In 2017, S. C. Johnson employed approximately 13,000 and had estimated sales of $10 billion.[2] Despite its large size, the company remains privately owned by the Johnson family. H. Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO since 2004, is the fifth generation of the Johnson family to lead the company.[3]

History[edit]

The company began in 1886 when Samuel Curtis Johnson purchased the parquet flooring division from the Racine Hardware Manufacturing Company and named the new business S. C. Johnson. The company’s principle product was parquet flooring but it quickly added other floor care products like Johnson’s Prepared Wax, Johnson’s Dance Wax and Johnson’s Wood Dye.[4] Management has since passed down through five generations of the Johnson family; which makes them one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the U.S.[5]

Under the leadership of Herbert Fisk Johnson Sr., the company expanded worldwide and established its first subsidiary in England in 1914.[6] In 1917, Herbert introduced profit sharing at a company-wide celebration where $35,000 was shared.[7] At the ten-year anniversary of the company’s profit sharing program, Johnson explained his rationale “The goodwill of the people is the only enduring thing in any business. It is the sole substance…the rest is shadow!”[8]

In 1932, SC Johnson introduced Johnson’s Glo-Coat which was the first self-polishing floor cleaner on the market.[9] The success of Glo-Coat bolstered the company during the Great Depression.[10] S. C. Johnson’s growing line of wax-reliant products necessitated Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr.’s 1935 expedition to Fortaleza, Brazil in an S-38 Amphibian plane to find a direct sustainable source of wax.[11]

From April 1935 until May 1950, the company was the sponsor for the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show, officially known as The Johnson Wax Program; each episode featured an appearance by pitchman Harlow Wilcox. To maximize show time, Wilcox was written into the script as a Johnson's-obsessed friend of the McGees (Fibber nicknamed him "Waxy") who would show up mid-episode and managed to get an ad into his lines, often using extremely far-fetched segues for comedic effect. Common products advertised on the show were Johnson's Wax, Johnson's Glo-Coat, and Johnson's Car-Nu.[12] During the 1950s, the company served as sponsor of the game show, The Name's the Same; alternating with Swanson.[13] The company went on to co-sponsor Robert Montgomery Presents on NBC, and The Red Skelton Show on CBS.[14]

In April of 1939, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed SC Johnson Administration Building opened. Speaking about his creation, Wright said “This building was designed to be as inspiring a place to work in as any cathedral ever was to worship in”.[15] Its addition, the Research Tower, opened in 1950, and at 153 feet-tall was one of the world’s tallest buildings designed using the cantilever principle.[16] In 1974, the SC Johnson Headquarters was designated a National Historic Landmark.[17]

The launch of Raid House & Garden Bug Killer in 1955 marked the company’s first major departure away from wax-based products.[18] Within the next few years, Sam Johnson, fourth generation leader, helped to introduce some of the company’s biggest products: Glade, OFF! and Pledge.[19]

In 1992, the company bought Drackett, manufacturer of Windex, Drāno and other specialty cleaning products.[20] In 1998, S. C. Johnson expanded its roster of consumer brands when it purchased Dow Chemical's DowBrands division, which included Ziploc, Saran, Fantastik, and Scrubbing Bubbles.[21]

In 1999, the commercial cleaning products and systems division separated from Johnson Wax and became a stand-alone company called Johnson Wax Professional and later known as Diversey, Inc.[22] After several years away from the professional business, in 2015, S. C. Johnson acquired Deb Group, a global industrial company focused on hygiene and skin care systems for the industrial, commercial, healthcare and food markets, to expand its presence in industrial and institutional markets. A year later the company announced a new line of SC Johnson Professional products at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN conference in Chicago.[23]

In 2008, the company acquired Caldrea, Co, maker of upscale household cleaning products including the Caldrea and Mrs. Meyers Clean Day brands.[24] In July 2016, the company signed an agreement to acquire Babyganics, a baby products company with products including skin care, oral care, sun care, insect repellent, diapers and wipes.[25] In 2017 the company signed an agreement to acquire cleaning brands Method and Ecover.[26]

In 2009, the company launched whatsinsidescjohnson.com listing ingredients in their products in North America.[27] In 2012, it added a comprehensive list of fragrance ingredients, called SC Johnson’s Exclusive Fragrance Palette, used in its products. SC Johnson’s Exclusive Fragrance Palette excludes ingredients that don’t meet the company’s standards.[28] May 2016, the company expanded its ingredient transparency program to Europe, including 25 countries and 20 languages added to its website.[29] In May 2017, SC Johnson disclosed a list of 368 potential skin allergens in its products.[30]

  1. ^ "What We Do". S. C. Johnson & Son. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  2. ^ Byron, Ellen (March 9, 2016), "How Fisk Johnson Works to Keep the Shine on Family Business", The Wall Street Journal, retrieved March 29, 2018
  3. ^ Delwiche, Anna (January 29, 2017), "Continuing the Family Legacy: Fisk Johnson's Donation and His Family's Commitment to Cornell", The Cornell Daily Sun, retrieved March 29, 2018
  4. ^ Pfankuchen, David (September 21, 1986), "Parquet Floors Launched Firm", The Journal Times, retrieved April 3, 2018
  5. ^ Cowen, Lee (October 16, 2016), "In Good Company: A Family History at SC Johnson", CBS Sunday Morning, retrieved April 3, 2018
  6. ^ Pfankuchen, David (September 21, 1986), "Parquet Floors Launched Firm", The Journal Times, retrieved April 23, 2018
  7. ^ Staff Writer (December 22, 1917), "Johnson Gives His Employes [sic] Credit for Successful Year", The Racine Journal-News, retrieved March 29, 2018
  8. ^ Staff Writer (February 16, 1928), "Herbert F. Johnson Dies, Victim of Heart Disease", The Racine Times-Call {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ^ Staff Writer (April 29, 1932), "New Product is Now on the Market", The Racine Journal-News, retrieved March 29, 2018
  10. ^ Burke, Michael (October 22, 2001), "The Flight That Changed a Company", The Journal Times, retrieved April 3, 2018
  11. ^ Staff Writer (October 14, 1935), "Wax Hunt", Time {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. ^ Stumpf, Charles; Price, Tom (1987), Heavenly Days! The Story of Fibber McGee and Molly, Waynesville, NC: The World of Yesterday, pp. 41–202, ISBN 0-936505-05-2
  13. ^ Staff Writer (April 13, 1953), "Rival TV Networks Share The Honors: NBC and ABC both take lively part in one of TV's biggest success stories", LIFE, retrieved April 19, 2018
  14. ^ Staff Writer (September 15, 2003), "S. C. Johnson & Son", AdAge.com, Crane Communications, retrieved April 19, 2018
  15. ^ Staff Writer (May 8, 1939), "New Frank Lloyd Wright Office Building Shows Shape of Things to Come", LIFE, retrieved April 19, 2018
  16. ^ Staff Writer (December 11, 1950), "Speaking of Pictures: Johnson's new "Heliolab" makes strange patterns both by night and by day", LIFE, retrieved April 19, 2018
  17. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form - S. C. Johnson and Son, Inc.", nps.gov, National Parks Service, December 27, 1974, retrieved April 19, 2018
  18. ^ Cowen, Lee (October 16, 2016), "In Good Company: A Family History at SC Johnson", CBS Sunday Morning, retrieved April 19, 2018
  19. ^ Johnson, Samuel C. (1988), The Essence Of A Family Enterprise, Indianapolis, Indiana: The Curtis Publishing Company, pp. 49–50, 63, 65, 70–72, ISBN 0-89387-086-2
  20. ^ The Associated Press (October 28, 1992), "Company News; S.C. Johnson to Buy Drackett from Bristol-Myers", The New York Times, retrieved April 20, 2018
  21. ^ "S.C. Johnson completes Dow acquisition", Milwaukee Business Journal, January 23, 1998, retrieved April 20, 2018
  22. ^ Callahan, Patricia; Ellison, Sarah (November 21, 2001), "Johnson Wax to Buy DiverseyLever From Unilever for About $1.6 Billion", The Wall Street Journal, retrieved April 20, 2018
  23. ^ Schuyler, David (October 26, 2016), "S.C. Johnson announces return to industrial and institutional market", Milwaukee Business Journal, retrieved April 20, 2018
  24. ^ Hamlin, Doug (April 28, 2008), "S.C. Johnson buys Caldrea", Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, retrieved April 20, 2018
  25. ^ Barrow, Olivia (July 1, 2016), "S.C. Johnson acquires fast-growing baby products company", Milwaukee Business Journal, retrieved April 20, 2018
  26. ^ Marotti, Ally (September 15, 2017), "S.C. Johnson plans to acquire Method, which has a Pullman soap factory", Chicago Tribune, retrieved April 20, 2018
  27. ^ GreenBiz Editors (March 13, 2009), "SC Johnson Starts Listing Products Ingredients Publicly", GreenBiz, retrieved April 23, 2018 {{citation}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  28. ^ King, Bart (September 15, 2017), "SC Johnson Completes Full Disclosure if Fragrance Ingredients", Chicago Tribune, retrieved April 23, 2018
  29. ^ "SC Johnson expands ingredient disclosure to Europe", Chemical Watch, May 27, 2016, retrieved April 23, 2018
  30. ^ Joyce, Stephen (May 26, 2017), "SC Johnson to Expand Skin Allergen Disclosures in Products", Bloomberg BNA, retrieved April 23, 2018
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