C.F. Sauer: Spicing Richmond Up for Over 100 Years

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577 days
by in Richmond Business

Richmond residents have long been familiar with the animated neon sign of the C.F. Sauer Company at their headquarters on Broad Street. Begun in 1884, Sauers is one of Richmond’s oldest companies. Their offices have been located at 2000 W. Broad Street since 1911.
At the age of seventeen, Conrad Frederick Sauer was a drug clerk. In the late 1800s, customers would bring their own bottles to be filled with the products they needed at the drugstore. When he noticed that housewives would purchase their vanilla from the drugstores, because they knew they’d get better quality and strength, Sauer had an idea. So he launched his company, making spices and flavoring pre-packaged and available in grocery stores.
By the late 1920s, the C.F. Sauer Company had grown to be the nation’s largest producer of extracts and spices. Sauer said, “In regard to putting our goods on the market, I felt that by putting out higher quality goods than those being sold and putting them in a cartoned bottle, which had not been done up to that time in the small packages, that they would find a more ready sale, which proved to be the case.”
The company has stayed in the family. Great-grandson Mark Sauer, now the Executive Vice President, says that his grandfather recognized an opportunity and seized on it. And he says that the company has stayed true to his grandfather’s vision. Mark Sauer says, “We are the last company in America that makes vanilla the way they used to make it. We’ve never changed.”
Vanilla is just one of the many products produced at Sauer’s Broad Street plant. The complex covers about 14 acres. Not far away, the company owned Metrolina Plastics, Inc. produces plastic boxes, bottles and tops for the Sauer’s spice products. Now employing about 900 people nationwide, Sauer’s has annual sales of around $300 million.
When C.F. Sauer, Sr. passed away in 1927, his son C.F. Sauer, Jr. was elected president and treasurer of the company. His leadership lead to a new strategy employing market based trends and advertising. Through an emphasis on sales, the company expanded their line of household drugs and remedies and purchased the Interstate Commerce Company. In 1929, the Sauer Company purchased Duke’s Products of Company began by Mrs. Eugenia Duke in 1917. Mrs. Duke began by selling homemade sandwiches to soldiers in training at Fort Sevier. Now a best seller in the Sauer Company, the Duke’s products include mayonnaise, sandwich relish, salad dressing and tarter sauce. To date, Mrs. Duke’s recipe remains the only major mayonnaise brand made without sugar.
In the 1960s, the company purchased Dean Foods, a margarine manufacturer and Alford’s Barbecue Sauce was added to the line, but as Sauer’s Barbecue Sauce.
In recent years, the company has enlarged the Richmond plant and storage facilities to accommodate their production of gravy, sauce and seasoning mixes.
In 1993, C.F. Sauer IV was elected president of the company. Mark Sauer is Executive Vice President of Sales, Bradford B. Sauer is Vice President of Sauer Properties. The Richmond plant manager is R. Tyler Sauer.
While the nation’s largest spice maker, McCormick & Co. has multiple times the amount of sales as Sauers, the C.F. Sauer company remains a Richmond fixture. And that’s not just the sign.

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A Good Car at a Good Price

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586 days
by in Richmond Business

In the early 1990s, seeking to find a new retail opportunity, Circuit City CEO Richard Sharp and Vice President of Corporate Planning Austin Ligon developed the concept for CarMax. In December of 1991 the Circuit City made a wise investment of $50 million to fund the concept.
The first CarMax store was opened in Richmond in September of 1993. The first sale was a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee. By 1996 Car Max announces plans to open 80 to 90 stores nationwide. Adding to that was the launch of CarMax.com which allows customers to search through the entire Car Max inventory.
The company lives and operates by five basic principles:

  • We offer tens of thousands of used cars across the country
  • Every car we sell has a low, no-haggle price
  • Our vehicles are superior in quality. Only the best cars meet our high standards
  • We’ll buy your car whether you buy from us or not
  • You’ll get friendly customer service

And it works. Ten years after Sharp and Ligon first dreamed of the concept, the company posted their first annual profit of $1.1 million. CarMax owes much of its success to simply providing customers what they want: an easy shopping experience to get a good car at a good price.
CarMax says they are the smart choice for buying a car, offering thousands of vehicles for under $12,000. Key to their selling method is posting the price right the car. No negotiating, no hidden charges. And they’re willing to work with a number of financial institutions to get the best option for prospective buyers.
Car Max invests back into the community. They recently announced a $45,000 grant to the Enrichmond Foundation for the fourth season of the CarMax Summer Basketball League.
Even with a struggling economy, Car Max reported that this spring they sold more cars and at higher prices. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, “CarMax CEO Tom Folliard attributed the spike in wholesale sales to fewer cars on the market.”
Still at a meeting earlier this week Folliard told shareholders. “I still think we’re in for a little bit of a rough road. Although we see some positive signs in the economy, I personally feel it’s going to be a slow burn.”
Today, CarMax has 100 stores across the country. They’re ranked as a FORTUNE® 500 company and and have been named one of FORTUNE® magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For” six years in a row. Since that first sale in 1993 they’ve sold more than 2 million cars.
It seems that at least 2 million buyers agree that this is a better way to buy a car.
And, while the parent company of Circuit City declared bankruptcy and closed their doors last year, CarMax appears poised to remain strong and even rebound when the economy recovers.

But perhaps they’ve made enough of a name for themselves now that they’ll be even stronger in the future. It might just be that this downturn in the economy has convinced consumers that the shiny new car they want doesn’t have to brand new.
When they make that decision, CarMax has a good car, at a good price.
Thousands of them in fact.

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Anchoring Richmond’s Law Community for 101 Years

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593 days
by in Richmond Business

Observant Richmond residents will have noticed a recent addition to the city skyline. The prestigious law firm of Williams Mullen moved to new offices located on South 10th Street earlier in June. Firm Chairman, Julious P. Smith, Jr. said “Williams Mullen has been a part of Richmond since 1909. Our new office represents our continued and strengthened commitment to the Greater Richmond region and its business community.”

It was in 1909 that Lewis C. Williams and James Mullen, two Richmond attorneys formed the law firm of Williams and Mullen. These men know that changes in business and finance laws would create a need for legal services. Four years later in 1913 when Congress adopted the federal income tax, the vision of Williams and Mullen proved true. The firm grew and expanded and in 1961 became Williams, Mullen & Christian through a merger.

Around the same time Morton L. Wallerstein and Virgil R. Goode established their own law firm. In 1986, the law firm of Wallerstein, Goode and Dobbins merged with Williams, Mullen and Christian creating Williams, Mullen, Christian and Dobbins, P.C. The firm has continued to grow through mergers and now has offices in Virginia, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and London.

At Williams Mullen, approximately 300 attorneys practice in over 30 areas. The firm provides legal services regionally, nationally and internationally. Attorneys work in teams across geographical locations since the firm does not have a central office.

Recently Chambers USA recognizes Williams Mullen as a Leader in Business Law, ranking the firm among the top firms in Virginia and North Carolina.

Providing legal counsel and services does not limit the folks at Williams Mullen. The firm and attorneys give financial support and substantial volunteer time in their respective communities. Williams Mullen’s attorneys hold positions on non-profit boards and committees, arts foundations, legal aid societies and institutions of higher learning.

Attorneys at Williams Mullen offer pro bono services to the Virginia Poverty Law Center, the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce, Wills for Heroes and Habitat for Humanity. International team members have been recognized by the Court of International Trade.

Additionally, Williams Mullen offers support to such organizations as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Animal Adoption & Rescue Foundation (AARF), Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs, March of Dimes, Multiple Sclerosis Society, United Way Services, and the YMCA.

An example of that community service is Partner Robert F. “Bob” Redmond, Jr. who, along with his fellow attorneys oversees case intake at the legal aid clinic for the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Volunteering his time, Redmond and associates help to collect unpaid wages, obtain green cards and more. They’ve never missed a clinic since Redmond began the program in 2004.

Celebrating 101 years of service, Williams Mullen recently moved into their new 16-story building on South 10th Street in Richmond. Joining the celebration, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones said, “We’re very proud you have made a commitment to downtown Richmond. You could have gone anywhere.”

Williams Mullen has a definite stature in Richmond. And it’s not just their new building.

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Luck Stone Corporation: Building Community Foundations

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598 days
by in Richmond Business

Luck Stone Corporation has been a family owned and business for three generations. Charles S. Luck, Jr. purchased the Sunnyside Granite Company in 1923 founded Richmond headquartered Luck Stone Corporation. He led the company for the next forty years. He passed away in 1972.

One of the largest producers of crushed stone in the county, Luck Stone is also a prominent supplier of architectural stone and tennis courts in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland. In the 1940s Luck Stone was a major supplier in the war effort, producing and shipping much-needed stone to military bases in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The company moved their corporate headquarters to Goochland County in the 1970s.

Luck Stone Corporation consists of four business enterprises. For Construction Aggregates, Luck Stone has 15 sites in Virginia and North Carolina. These sites supply crushed stone, gravel and other products in the Mid-Atlantic region. Charles Luck Stone Center offers homeowners, builders, contractors, architects and landowners stone products for homes, businesses and landscaping Lee Tennis Court Products features one of the best-selling surface materials for tennis courts in the United States. HAR-TRU® is the company’s most well-known brand. And finally, the real estate development section of Luck Stone is known as Luck Development Partners. This division handles the sales and leasing of corporate real estate assets.

Luck Stone takes pride in being a community and environmental leader. In the fall of 2009, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality recognized the Spotsylvania and Powhatan quarries for achieving E3 status, the only quarries to do so. This is recognition from the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program and E3 is the highest status awarded meaning that the facility has been named an Exemplary Environmental Enterprise.

In addition, Luck Stone sponsors community events and programs supporting local non-profit organizations. Annually the participate in the James River Clean Up and provide lunch for all volunteers at two locations for the clean-up; Maidens Landing in Powhatan and Robious Landing in Chesterfield. Luck Stone provides scholarships, provides assistance to Habitat for Humanity and has partnered with HGTVs Curb Appeal for a project in Tacoma, Maryland.

The company established the Luck Stone Foundation which provides grants to non-profit groups working to build stronger communities, to improve the quality of life and to provided services to youth in need. Grants of $250 and higher are made to non-profit groups that share the company goals and values.

Luck Stone seeks to be environmentally responsible through their Environmental Management System. This system seeks to keep the company in compliance with environmental standards. In addition they have developed an environmental bank as compensation for the impact to wetlands and have begun stream restoration projects. The company takes the preservation of natural resources and the reclamation of land seriously.

Earlier this year Luck Stone offered their support to the Virginia Sturgeon Restoration Team. This team is a partnership between Virginia Commonwealth University, the James River Association, Luck Stone, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and others. Working together, this group recently created a 300-foot-long artificial reef along the James River.

For nearly 90 years, Luck Stone corporation has been a good Richmond neighbor, providing economic benefits, including employment, while at the same time being a responsible and active member of the greater Richmond community.

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