JACKSON COMPANY PROVIDES A WAY FOR WORLD TO GET ITSELF ORGANIZED

JACKSON -- If you've ever bought ventilated wire shelving for home closets, sliding baskets, door or wall racks, and organizers for your home, chances are they were made in Jackson by the 1,200 employees of Lee-Rowan of Jackson, a member of the Newell Group.

The company's slogan, "Lee-Rowan, Where the World Gets Organized," expresses the growth of the company during the past 56 years. It all started in 1939 when Edgar D. Lee and John V. Rowan founded the company. Lee-Rowan's first products were metal trouser creasers that were sold to Sears, Roebuck and Co., and JCPenny, which have been Lee-Rowan customers for over 50 years.

During World War II the company's supply of steel for trouser creasers was cut off so it started manufacturing arming wires for bombs. After the war the company experimented with new products that eventually led to Storage Systems by Lee-Rowan.

Today, Lee-Rowan manufactures more than 600 storage and organizational products -- from ventilated wire shelving, open basket systems, shoe racks and under-cabinet organizers to garment racks, extra storage closets and bath furniture and accessories.

Lee-Rowan home organizational products manufactured in Jackson are sold in stores throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia and the Caribbean. Most of those products are manufactured in Jackson.

Constance H. Conrad, product manager at Lee-Rowan corporate headquarters in St. Louis, said the Jackson plant currently manufactures:

-- Ventilated wire shelving, including award-winning Free-Slide Shelving.

-- Open stock basket systems, multiple lines of clothing hangers.

-- Door-wall racks and accessories.

-- Shoe racks

-- Closet organizing systems

-- Under-cabinet organizers

-- Sports organizers

-- Deluxe Rail System, for which the company received the "Best Value for 1994" award from Home Mechanix magazine.

"Our St. Louis plant manufactures garment racks, extra storage closets and bath furniture and accessories," said Conrad.

For a while in the 1970s and early 1980s, Lee-Rowan also made a variety of children's furniture, including table and chair sets, toy chests, sandboxes and children's picnic tables.

If there is one thing Lee-Rowan is probably known best for in this area, it is rapid growth. To keep up with the demand for its products, the Jackson plant has expanded 11 times since the original 49,500-square-foot plant was constructed in 1964.

Some of those expansions were financed, in part, by industrial bond issues from the Jackson Industrial Development Authority.

The latest plant expansions include 100,000 square feet (largest of the 11) in 1990, 93,000 square feet in 1992, and 81,000 square feet in 1993.

Today, the plant has almost 640,000 square feet of space, and even that is beginning to fill. The plant operates three shifts per day.

Conrad said the Jackson plant is the largest of the Lee-Rowan facilities. Including the 167,000 square feet of space at its St. Louis plant, Lee-Rowan now has more than a million square feet of manufacturing space in use. In 1993, the company purchased a building in Newbern, Tenn., which is near Dyersburg, and is now converting it into a third manufacturing facility.

In 1992 Lee-Rowan had retail sales of $100 million. "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our 1,200 associates in Jackson, they have helped Lee-Rowan exceed their 1993 sales goal of $128 million," said Conrad. Incidentally, Lee-Rowan is the largest employer in Jackson and one of the larger employers in the Jackson-Cape Girardeau region.

In 1993 Lee-Rowan's owner, Desmond Lee, announced the sale of the company to the Newell Group of Freeport, Ill. Newell manufactures and markets staple consumer products that are sold through a variety of retail and wholesale distribution channels. Product categories include hardware, housewares, office products, and educational products.