Brillo has been added to the portfolio of Armaly Brands, a century-old household cleaning products company based in Walled Lake, Michigan. Armaly completed the purchase from Church and Dwight, famous for Arm and Hammer products, on Friday, March 14, 2010.
Armaly and Kresge/Kmart
Armaly has a long history of ingenuity and success since it was founded in 1908. J. W. Armaly had discovered that natural sponges were superior in cleaning power to either dry or wet rags. They introduced them as a household product to the North American marketplace.
"During the depression, Armaly Sponge accepted K-Script, Kresge's own special currency, as payment for Armaly products shipped to Kresge stores," says John Armaly, Jr., grandson of founder . "In turn, Armaly's employees received the script as part of their pay and then shopped at Kresge stores, paying with K-Script. When World War II hit, the sponges found new life as filters on submarines."
Ingenuity extended beyond the Kmart relationship. Armaly was also known to trade sponges for cars at Ford's Highland Park plant.
Ford, Kresge, and Armaly became close personal friends -- a "networking" relationship that allowed for the synergistic bartering that helped all three companies.
Brillo's collaborative beginnings
Patented in 1913, Brillo now commands a 30 percent market share in the steel-wool pad sector. It was developed by a cookware peddler in reaction to a need of his Jeweler brother. The brother was looking for a simpler way to clean his products. They discovered a German Soap that, when used with steel wool, easily cleaned the tarnished jewelry. Amazingly it also worked well for the cookware, removing the darkened stains from prolonged use.
The Brillo on the market today is very similar to the original product. The only primary changes is the softness of the product, made possible by advances in the steel industry. Today's Brillo is also rust-free, as long as the pad still contains some soap.
Today
Armaly makes the greenest commercial sponges on the market. Sold under the Estracell, Clawth, Auto Show and Armaly Pro-Plus names, household and commercial versions, Armaly's products are popular among builders, crafters, cleaners, and manufacturers. Armaly's brands typically command for 30 to 75 percent market share in their respective categories.
Armaly's products are manufactured in Walled Lake, Michigan while Brillo is manufactured in London, Ohio.
Vintage Brillo commercial.
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