The Carr Lowrey Glass Co., the last glass maker in Baltimore“s once important glass industry, announced 29 May 2003 that it will close down after 114 years manufacturing perfume bottles and specialty…
The Carr Lowrey Glass Co., the last glass maker in Baltimore“s once important glass industry, announced 29 May 2003 that it will close down after 114 years manufacturing perfume bottles and specialty glass, having finally lost the battle to foreign competitors and plastic. Glass making was once among the top three employers in the city. After years of declining business and numerous unsuccessful attempts to sell the company, Carr Lowrey will stop manufacturing glass products in the first week of June 2003 then shut down definitively after a few more weeks of packing, shipping and associated paperwork, said Wayne Long, the company“s president. About 250 employees will be affected by the closure. Carr Lowrey was founded in the city“s Westport section in 1889, by William W. Lowrey and Samuel J. Carr, and it specialised early on as a supplier for druggists and perfume companies, originally producing mouth-blown glass. In 1927, it was one of the first American glass companies to install automated machines, according to the company“s Website. Carr Lowrey“s specialty was always perfume containers. It made a line Avon bottles that were shaped like trucks, airplanes and other collectibles, and more recently made a basketball-etched bottle for Michael Jordan cologne. Company president Wayne Long said Carr Lowrey has continued to produce intricate, specialized glass products to great acclaim. But that niche of the business is not profitable enough to sustain a factory, he said, despite years of trying. “That“s where you earn your reputation, but that doesn“t pay the bills,” he said. “It“s the run-of-the-mill stuff that we couldn“t get enough of.” “I wish things were different. For anyone who has any love or passion for this business, this is not a happy day.” Carr Lowrey, still at its original location on Kloman Street, has operated on borrowed time and money since at least 1999. It was rescued from its Swiss creditors by a USD 7 million loan from the Abell Foundation, which allowed it to avoid foreclosure, and has been searching for a buyer or partner ever since. But the prospects grew ever fainter as its markets declined and competition grew. It expanded into the business of tableware, candle holders and specialty food and beverage containers, but its core cosmetics and fragrance business continued to decline, company officials said. The popularity of plastic packaging and the deep discounts offered by overseas manufacturers have taken a lot of the company“s business. Other industry watchers say the company also suffered from delivery delays and less rigorous quality under previous management. The problems were corrected, but the company never recovered. “We wanted to keep the company going, and they“ve done that for 4 1/2 years, keeping people in their jobs and paying about USD 30 million in salaries and benefits over that time,” said Robert C. Embry Jr., chairman of the Abell Foundation. “But they couldn“t turn it around, and they were unable to find a buyer.”