H. A. Guden
| File:Guden Logo.png | |
| Private | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Hardware |
| Founded 📆 | 1920 |
| Founder 👔 | Henry Alexander Guden |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | Ronkonkoma, New York, US |
Area served 🗺️ | US and Canada |
Key people | Kirby Moyers (President) and Al Guden (Chairman of the Board) |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | www |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Guden is a Hardware company based in Ronkonkoma, New York[1] that was founded by Henry Alexander(Al) Guden in 1920. Guden is a leader in supplying quality hardware products to businesses in various industries.[2] During the early 1900s, it was one of the leading manufacturers of furniture hardware in the world and Al traveled extensively to peddle the product line. The company currently distributes hardware to US and Canada. The company has 10–49 employees[3] who work together to provide their distribution service.
Company History[edit]
Charles Otto Guden (1866 – 1952) had been the National Sales Manager of the Foster Marion Company, a manufacturer of cast brass and bronze furniture hardware. Henry Alexander “Al” Guden, his son, had been a salesman for the same company but left to form his own company, Phono & Metal Products, who supplied hinges, supports and other hardware items to the emerging phonograph industry. His brother, Edwin Howard “Ed” Guden (1893 - 1960), had been in Europe during World War I and formed a precious metals plating company upon his return to the US.
Al bought out the Foster Marion foundry in Meriden, CT and all of their patterns and equipment for a reported $10,000. He also manufactured turntables and needle cups. His brother Ed started his plating business to service the business. In 1920 the three decided to combine their efforts and incorporated as ‘H.A. Guden Co., Inc’. They began to act as the East Coast representative of the Keeler Brass Co. of Grand Rapids MI.
They added the Weber-Knapp Co in Jamestown NY, in 1925 when it was purchased by Keeler Brass. In those early years, they primarily serviced the wood cabinet manufacturers in the New York area and the original contract with Weber Knapp restricted us to a territory to include a 25-mile radius around New York City Hall.
Their original office was at 25 Canal Street in Manhattan. They moved from there to 225 Canal Street in 1925 and on to 87 Walker Street in 1936. Their product line remained basically the same though they expanded it to include commercial refrigeration hardware (Crampton Mfg, then Grand Rapids Brass, then the Cramco Div of Gulf & Western), some drawer slides , Faultless Casters, Engineered Products (EPCO) line of magnetic catches and a few miscellaneous items.
Guden acquired the Stanley Hardware line in the 1940s. At the time it was the bulk items known as their ‘Furniture Hardware’ which was subsequently absorbed into their standard hardware line. Guden’s initial introduction to continuous hinges was through the Stanley 311 and 314 series and the close-outs they purchased from them after World War II. Guden also represented the Veeder-Root Co. in CT who manufactured hinges to use on their meters.. The Veeder-Root Co. sold the its hinge line to the Homer D. Bronson Co. in Beacon Falls, Ct in the late 1940s and Guden was left with only the Stanley items. During this period, Guden marketed most of their items to the wood cabinet manufacturers in the New York area.
John Charles “Jack” Guden (1913 – 1995) joined the company in 1946. He had received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1933, worked for Robbins Conveyor Belt, and then started his own boiler installation/repair business. During the 1930’s, he also served in the 101st Cavalry, Troop B. After the Pearl Harbor attack, he volunteered and served in Charleston, SC and the Panama Canal Zone as an engineering officer in the US Navy.
Jack bought out some of the Stanley close-outs and now they were in the continuous hinge business. In the early 1950s Jack made their first mailing to some engineering types in the area and sent a 2-page list of stock items. Guden had about 5 to 10 pieces of each in stock. Jack connected with the Harold Marshall Advertising Agency and Guden began a more organized approach to getting the message out to the metal cabinet industry that Guden had hinges.
In 1965, H A Guden Co Inc moved from Manhattan to 1375 Bangor Street, Copiague NY. The built a 10,000 square foot facility that allowed them to significantly expand and move fully into hardware lines that were aimed at the metal cabinet manufacturers. A major reason for this change was that most of the furniture hardware lines were being imported from Japan and the US wood furniture manufacturers all moved to the High Point NC area.
In 1966, Paul Alexander “Al” Guden (1944 - ) joined the company. After receiving a BS degree in Economics & Business from Hofstra University and doing a short stint in the US Navy.
Guden continued in this direction and marketed their product line through an extensive network of manufacturers representatives. Most of the representatives were engineering types – mechanical, design, aerospace. They presented our products to design people and Guden prospered. Guden added an additional 2500 square foot manufacturing facility to their Copiague facility in the 1970s. In 1985, Guden moved to a 20.000 square foot facility at 99 Raynor Avenue, Ronkonkoma NY on the edge of Long Island’s MacArthur Airport (ISP). The company added Gas Springs to their line in the late 1980s.
The 1990s saw the internet and a complete change in the marketing of the Guden product line and the ads in trade print publication being fulfilled with catalogs mailed to potential customers to the evolving pay per click advertising and company websites – Guden.com, Hinges.com and GasSprings.com. The sales representatives over a period were terminated and the company moved almost completely into marketing its products on the internet.
Product Line[edit]
Guden carries a broad selection of Hinges, Gas Springs, Dampers, Handles, and other associated hardware. Some of the hinges that they carry include: Military Specification Hinges as well as Spring Hinges and Slip Joint Hinges.
In addition to their products that they carry in stock, they also can customize hardware to meet individual need.[4]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Guden.com". sourceesb. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ "Guden". Guden. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ↑ "H.A. Guden Co., Inc". Thomasnet.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ "About H A Guden Co., Inc". Manta. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
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