12 l exchangemagazine.com l JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005

McCordick Glove

and Safety Inc.

serves a who’s

who of corporate

clients

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Recipient of the Best WesternInternational’s “Best of the Best”

Awards 2003 & 2004

Corporately appointed guest rooms& attractive meeting facilities

McCordick Glove

and Safety Inc.

serves a who’s

who of corporate

clients

John Huck, presidentof McCordick Glove& Safety Inc.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005 l exchangemagazine.com l 13

When it comes to meetingclients’ requirements forconsistent quality and

customer service, McCordickGlove and Safety Inc.’s productsfit the need, like a glove.

That’s a cliché, of course, butan appropriate one. OverMcCordick’s long track record ofconsistent growth and customersatisfaction, gloves are a fittingmetaphor for the Cambridge-based company. After all, thatproduct is not only synonymouswith McCordick’s history, but isresponsible for the lion’s share ofthe company’s revenue. Foundedover 25 years ago by currentpresident, John Huck, McCordickGlove and Safety Inc. bears testi-mony to how a family-run busi-ness, starting with a single prod-uct, can successfully expand itsproduct lines while remainingtrue both to its roots and to itslegion of loyal customers.

McCordick Glove and Safety hascome a long way. There’s undeniablepride in John’s voice as he explainshow the company has grownliterally “from nothing” based in a2,500-square-foot facility, into a

THE PRODUCTFITS THE DEMANDBY PHIL WRIGHT

MOVER & SHAKER

THE PRODUCTFITS THE DEMANDBY PHIL WRIGHT

continued on page 14

MOVER & SHAKER

prospering business with a coast-to-coast presence. Aside from the spa-cious 45,000-square-foot Cambridgehead office the company has occupiedfor less than a year, the glove and safe-ty gear distributor boasts branches fromwestern Canada, in Surrey and Edmon-ton, to the east in Boucherville, Quebec.The Jamieson Parkway company hasbecome one of the largest safety geardistributors in the country, with anenviable customer list that reads likethe corporate who’s who of Canada,including corporate luminaries such asToyota, Magna, Noranda, Stelco andKitchener’s Kuntz Electroplating.

Despite its growth, McCordickremains very much a family operation.Founder and family patriarch, John, ispresident. Two of his sons, David andPhil, are executive vice-president andindustrial sales manager respectively. Athird son, Paul, runs a similar distribu-tion business for first-aid supplies inKitchener. Though Paul’s business issimilar to McCordick’s, it was Paul’s will-ingness to “set up his own business,”according to David, that led him to golaunch out on his own. John got his feet

wet in the glove and safety business atHuck Glove, which was founded by hisgrandfather, Joseph, in 1906. Kitchener-based Huck Glove remains one ofMcCordick’s local competitors.

Around 1980 John went into partner-ship with the Henderson family of Mon-treal to form McCordick Glove and Safe-ty. The McCordick name was derivedfrom a separate Henderson family ven-ture. To cover start-up costs, the twomen financed the new venture personal-ly. Within 15 years the Hendersons soldtheir shares of McCordick to Huck and agroup of a half-dozen employees. It wasaround that time that the companydecided to expand beyond gloves tosafety products including hearing prod-ucts, eyewash, cleaners and apparel.The company has not looked back.

The reception area offers evidence ofMcCordick’s successes. Plaques fromsuppliers including 3M and DuPont, rec-ognizing McCordick’s contributions,adorn the walls. Prominent in theseawards are plaques from nearby Toyotafor “outstanding supplier performance”among Toyota’s more than 300 suppliersof “supplemental products” for both2002 and 2003. Such recognition isn’tsurprising considering the priorityMcCordick places on customer service.In fact, the importance of customer sat-isfaction is a recurring theme in anyconversation with John, who has been inthe glove and safety business for over 50years in a variety of capacities. To provethe apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,son David, whose forte is product devel-opment and who has been with the fam-ily business for more than half of his 39years, echoes his father’s sentiments.

In their efforts to foster supplier rela-tions and to evaluate product quality,both John and David have made

14 l exchangemagazine.com l JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005

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numerous overseas trips over theyears, to Asian plants where many ofMcCordick’s gloves are manufacturedto their specifications. “I’ve made 20trips to the Orient and 12 trips aroundthe world,” says John about his globe-trotting. With labour being significantlycheaper in Asia than domestically, sig-nificant portions of McCordick’s glovesare produced offshore. However,despite Asian gloves being cheaper,McCordick has a number of domesticglove suppliers. Regardless of theproduct’s country of origin, strict CSAstandards are met on every product,emphasizes David.

The transition from exclusively dis-tributing gloves to providing broadersafety gear was partially just an evolu-tionary process, says John. “We got intogloves and we got into safety products

as well.” Considering their largest sell-ing product is gloves, it’s not surprisingthat McCordick’s catalogue boasts anarray of gloves in numerous styles.Gloves can be constructed from naturalrubber, split leather, grain leather andliquid proof material, to name just a fewof McCordick’s product offerings. “Wecarry all different styles of gloves,” saysJohn with obvious understatement.

Gloves can be used as an effectivemarketing device – given thatMcCordick is synonymous with workgloves, that product can be used tosoften clients to additional safety offer-ings. “What we want to try to do is takeit and become their (client’s) singlesource,” explains David. “We can man-age all the commodities for safety andput them all together.”

Since safety is more of a priority inindustry than in years past, McCordickoffers a wide range of products, from traf-fic safety apparel and equipment to respi-ratory protection and earplugs and safetyglasses. “We are head to toe,” explainsDavid. “We do the complete line. We’ve

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005 l exchangemagazine.com l 17

developed everything in ourWork Horse brand.”McCordick’s internally pro-duced annual catalogueexceeds 50 pages.

With a diverse product lineand manufacturing undertak-en elsewhere, McCordick’ssales force represents thecompany’s largest group ofemployees. Approximately 20sales reps are distributedamong McCordick’s headoffice and branch network.The company’s markets arenearly exclusively domestic.“We do a little bit of businessin the States, but not a lot,”explains the elder Huck. Witha number of competitors, both nationallyand locally, the company concentrates itssales efforts domestically. The Americanmarket, though attractive, is not animmediate target, says David who advo-cates a cautious approach to internation-al markets. “It’s a big market. It’s a hugemarket,” he says. “It’s a market we’redefinitely going to go after, but I want tomake sure the timing is right. I want tomake sure the systems are in place.”

Aside from a growing sales force,McCordick has an expanding adminis-tration department and its own in-houseart and marketing department, respon-sible for product development and pres-entation. More than in times past, fash-ion plays a larger part in safety productlines. For instance, safety glasses areconstantly being redeveloped to adaptto customer requests, which can includestyle presentations and colour varia-

tions. David estimates that eight to 10new styles of safety glasses are intro-duced annually. Seasonal promotions,which include the Christmas season andthe arrival of spring, are prepared nearlyeight months in advance.

The Huck family maintains a majori-ty position with McCordick’s owner-ship. A handful of employees own theremaining minority position in thecompany. As a privately owned compa-ny, the Hucks are unwilling to revealthe company’s sales figures. But, withthe growth in product line and employ-ees and with a sprawling facility, it’ssafe to say McCordick Glove is flourish-ing. And John realizes it’s far more thanjust family that is responsible for itssuccess. “We’ve had good growth andmainly our growth is attributed to hav-ing good people and the latest in tech-nology,” he says.

Despite the company’suninterrupted growth, theHucks are resistant to takingMcCordick public, saysDavid. It’s not just a matterof a family losing at least adegree of control in thecompany they have nur-tured for the past 25 years.The company prides itselfbeing a family operation,not only in the literal sense,but by extension as well. Ahandful of employees withproven loyalty and commit-ment have an ownershipstake in the company. Theremaining employees –David estimates there are

60 employees, coast-to-coast – aretreated as family members as well. TheHucks are justifiably proud of theircompany’s success and feel their col-lective experience has servedMcCordick well. “We manage our busi-ness very, very well,” says David withunmistakable confidence.

Gloves have a wide range of applica-tions, and McCordick’s customers areequally diverse. The company divides itsclientele into industrial and retail. Virtual-ly any manufacturing facility has a needfor safety gloves. And with gloves havinga relatively short life span, regardless oftheir durability, clients need to be wellstocked. “Hard hats can be worn formonths,” explains David Huck. “But,gloves can be damaged between shifts ata plant.” Partially because of the relativelyinexpensive cost of most safety equip-ment, customers occasionally overlook

MOVER & SHAKER

The shareholders of McCordick (left to right) Terry Jones, VP WesternRegion, Mark Chilvers, VP Finance/Operations, David Huck, Vice Pres-ident, John Bouctsis, Marketing Manager, Bob Train, VP Sales, ChrisDanielczak, Purchasing Manager, Bryan Kugler, Overseas PurchasingManager, John Huck, President and Phil Huck, Sales Manager.

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18 l exchangemagazine.com l JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005

MOVER & SHAKER

their depleting inventory of such equip-ment. Regardless of its cost, a client’s lackof safety equipment has been known toshut down production lines, says David.For that very reason customer service isessential for McCordick. “We have tohave excellent quality,” says John. “Wehave to be responsive and have to havenext-day delivery, which is important forindustrial [customers],” he says.

The retail sector accounts for nearlyhalf of McCordick’s annual revenue,says David. With big-box retailers suchas RONA and Home Depot being cus-tomers, along with famed Canadianretailer Home Hardware, a diverse,attractive and affordable product line isa necessity. Popular retail offeringsfrom Huck range from gardening glovesto first-aid kits and multi-paks. Davidestimates that McCordick has nearly8,000 different product skews. An indi-vidual skew is not a product, but anindividual version of a product. Forinstance a medium-sized split-leatherglove represents one skew. Recentlyintroduced by McCordick are safetyglasses featuring logos of NationalHockey League teams. For productswith the NHL label, royalties are paid to

the league’s licensing arm. “The cam-paign has been successful,” says David.“It has worked out very well.”

The main reason for the company’srelocation from its previous Franklinand Sheldon Avenue location was theneed for additional warehousing space.Surrounded by an abundance of prop-erty, McCordick can expand their headoffice operations if and when the needarises. The current warehouse includesceilings nearly 40 feet in height, to bet-ter allow vertical storage. The currentoutlet, housed within the building, isstocked largely with seconds and end-of-line products. It is used primarily asthe shipping source for client, orprospective client, samplings. In mostcases McCordick Sales representativese-mail requests for samples to the out-let where the order is picked and pack-aged for the interested party.

For inventory purposes, McCordickutilizes a Purolator shipping systemwhere orders can be precisely tracked.“We can trace orders at any given time,wherever they may be,” explains David.Inventory is real time, Dave adds, andis automatically dedicated to specificorders. If a customer’s order cannot be

filled from Cambridge, the order can befilled from any of the other threebranches. Currently, the company is inthe process of implementing a bar codesystem to even more accurately trackand record inventory, says Dave.“We’re trying to get better and better,”says Dave.

High order fill rates are a source ofpride at McCordick and a factor thatdifferentiates the company from itscompetition, explains David. “Allorders placed today are deliveredtoday. Customer service is really num-ber one. Our fill rates are extremelyhigh and we don’t rest on our laurels.”

Within the large McCordick buildingis a pool table. David says the table isuseful as a “stress reliever” as newproduct ideas or modifications to exist-ing products are debated in sometimesa heated manner. But, similar to a fam-ily dinner table, differences are dis-cussed, resolutions discovered, andeveryone promptly moves on. Perhapssuch family-oriented methods are thesecret to McCordick’s continued suc-cess. It’s the personal touch and anunwavering commitment to customerservice that sets this company apart.

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