LeeRowan changes name

Rubbermaid Closet Organization Products (RCOP) is the new name of the company in Jackson that employs about 1,400 workers.

LeeRowan, which was founded more than 60 years ago in St. Louis, became a subsidiary of Newell Co. in 1994 when it was purchased by Newell.

Newell and Rubbermaid merged in March 1999 to form Newell Rubbermaid Inc., a $6.2 billion, Fortune 500 company.

LeeRowan was founded in 1939 by Edgar Lee and John Rowan. The company's first products were metal trouser creasers that were sold to Sears, Roebuck and Co. and JCPenney, which have been LeeRowan customers for more than 50 years.

During World War II, the firm, unable to obtain steel for the trouser creasers, started manufacturing arming wires for bombs. After the war, the firm experimented with new products that eventually led to Storage Systems by LeeRowan.

Currently the firm not only makes the hangers, but a complete line of ventilated storage products and an assortment of traditional closet accessories.

LeeRowan expanded its St. Louis operation to Jackson in 1964 with 25 workers.

The plant has had more than a dozen expansions. In 1998, the company moved its Memphis manufacturing facility to Cape Girardeau.