By Kevin McCauley
Edsal Manufacturing chief Mitch Liss told O'Dwyer's that he will soon select a PR firm to promote the benefit of "buying American products." Costco, the chain of membership warehouses, will be a prime target of that push.
The Chicago-based manufacturer controls 70 percent of the steel shelving market and has distribution in Home Depot, Lowe's, Grainger, Office Depot, Staples, Sears and Sam's Club.
Liss has been trying to woo Costco into selling Edsal's shelves for the past five years, an effort that has yet to bear fruit. He believes PR may do the trick.
In July 14 letter sent to Costco chairman Jeff Brotman, CEO Jim Sinegal and COO Craig Jelinek, Liss points out that Costco "is the only U.S. retailer to continue to buy 100 percent of its steel shelving products from China despite the savings it could realize from buying domestically while hundreds of American jobs."
Factoring in freight costs, Liss says Costco would save money by selling shelves from Edsal. The letter also notes that Costco would enjoy a shorter lead time, require less inventory and benefit from positive PR by going with a domestic supplier.
Mark Spano, president of the Allied, Novelty and Production Workers union, which has 500 members working at Edsal, penned an Aug. 3 letter to Brotman to encourage Costco to "help the American economy, help American workers, help your customer base and protect the environment by selling products made in the U.S. such as welded steel storage racks made by Edsal Manufacturing."
Copies of that letter went to Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris, as well as Sinegal and Jelinek.
Liss has narrowed the list of PR firm candidates being considered for the campaign to a pair. The program is to begin next month.
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