San Diego, CA
888.324.7596
www.wd40company.com
Sales: $321 million
Sales:
$321 million. Net income: $36 million, for the year ended Aug. 31, 2010.
Key Personnel:
Neal E. Schmale, chairman; Garry O. Ridge, president and chief executive officer; Jay Rembolt, chief financial officer, treasurer and vice president, finance; Michael J. Irwin, executive vice president, strategic development; Graham P. Milner, executive vice president, global development and chief branding officer; Geoffrey J. Holdsworth, managing director–Asia Pacific; William B. Noble, managing director—Europe, Middle East & Africa; Michael L. Freeman, division president, The Americas; Tim Lesmeister, vice president of US marketing.
Major Products:
Maintenance, home care and cleaning products sold under brands including WD-40, 3-In-One Oil, Blue Works, X-14, 2000 Flushes, Carpet Fresh, No Vac, Spot Shot, 1001, Lava and Solvol.
Comments:
WD-40 Company’s net sales rose 10% from its last fiscal year, marking a record year for this San Diego, CA-based firm.
“This past year was the best in our company history and, while the gradual stabilization of the global economy has helped, our success is primarily due to our tribe members’ unwavering focus and exceptional execution of our key strategic initiatives,” said Garry Ridge, WD-40 Company president and CEO.“We were able to accomplish what was on our to do list, and that included a focus on both geographic expansion of our core brands and maximizing our position with multi-purpose maintenance products.”
Sales of multi-purpose maintenance products, which include WD-40, 3-In-One and Blue Works brands, were $258.1 million for the full year, up 15%. WD-40’s home care and cleaning product sales, which includes the remainder of its portfolio, totaled $63.4 million for the period, a decline of 5% from the previous fiscal year.
According to the company, the decrease came from several factors—lost distribution and discontinuance of certain product offerings among them—which primarily occurred in the prior fiscal year, but continued to negatively impact sales of these products in fiscal year 2010.
In its annual report, the company wrote:“Although our focus has shifted to our multi-purpose maintenance products, we were still able to either stabilize or increase the sales of certain of our home care and cleaning products in fiscal year 2010 by pursuing our niche markets or expanding our distribution channels.”
By region, WD-40’s America’s segment year-to-date sales were up 7% while Europe segment sales for the year were up 13% year-to-date from the prior fiscal year. Asia/Pacific segment sales were up 20%.
While the spotlight may be off of its home cleaning products, WD-40’s Spot Shot brand is still looking to woo customers. As such, the brand is nearing the end of its “Living Room Makeover” sweepstakes. The grand prize is $5,000. In addition to the big prize, Spot Shot is giving away free product coupons and signed autographs from soap star Austin Peck to one entrant each week during the sweepstakes period.