Outside the Great Bend headquarters of Fuller Brush stands a Weigand Realty sign, but company President and Chief Executive Officer Brady Gros said residents need not be alarmed.
“To address any concerns regarding the listing, we would like to update everyone on the process Fuller Brush is undergoing related to its bankruptcy,” Gros said in a brief statement. The building is owned by a real estate group out of Boston, Mass. Fuller is the tenant of the building, and the firm in Boston is the landlord.
Fuller and its Leicester, N.Y.,-based parent company CPAC filed for bankruptcy protection in February. At the time, company officials said the action would have little impact on the day-to-day operation at Great Bend facility.
“The lease is a contract that Fuller has the option to renew or cancel under the rules of bankruptcy,” Gros said. “The decision to renew or cancel has not been made yet, and will not be made until a plan of reorganization is put in place to take the company out of bankruptcy.”
Several options are being explored including reducing the leased space by Fuller, which will open up space for the landlord to lease to another tenant, he said. The landlord has retained Weigand of Wichita to market a portion of the property for lease in the event that Fuller reduces its lease space requirements.

 In the meantime
“We’re still in business making brushes and chemicals like we have been for over 100 years,” said Larry Perkins, Fuller chief restructuring officer at the time of the filing. “We are going to continue to make product and deliver product.”
The company filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Fuller Brush’s assets and debts each amount to between $10 million and $50 million.
Fuller has 185 employees at the time, 180 of which are at the Great Bend plant, Perkins said.  
The reason for the filing, Perkins said, was to bring an infusion of needed capital into the struggling company. The cash was necessary to pay for raw materials, cover salaries and pay Fuller’s landlord.
 
Not business as usual
The recession hit Fuller, but Perkins said there were other reasons why the company floundered. “We were not proactive in coming up with new products.” Instead, they relied on a product line that had changed little over the years.
“We want to improve our sales and marketing efforts,” he said. They will also emphasize a line of custom products.
“Nothing is business as usual” in a rapidly and ever changing business environment, Perkins said. “This really speaks to the quality of our products that they have survived this long.” Perhaps Fuller was a little slow realizing this, but he has seen their long-range plans and said the company is on the right track.
The headline on a news release posted on the Fuller website Jan. 3 of this year reads “The Fuller Brush Company is back.”
 The release goes on to say “The legendary Fuller Brush Company returns with a whole new line of products specifically designed for today’s consumers. The company has completely rebooted itself with a new website (www.fuller.com), products, marketing campaign, distribution channels and mass retail relationships to expand its reach into the consumer market and mindset.
“‘This is a landmark year for The Fuller Brush Company as we have devoted a significant amount of time and effort toward creating new strategies to better serve our customers,’ said Vinnie D’Alleva, chief marketing officer, Fuller Brands. ‘We’ve invested in new product development, expanded our retail offering, hired new talent and refreshed our branding to meet the needs of today’s consumers.’
“As part of the new initiatives, the company has broadened relationships with key retailers, including Publix, Home Depot, Orchard Supply Hardware, Vermont Country Store and Dierberg’s, to name a few.”

Economic development loan
In June 2011, the Great Bend City Council approved both applying for a state grant and a local loan to secure part of the funding for a million-dollar project at Fuller, including an effort to “rebrand” the company.
The city’s part included applying for $568,340 in Community Development Block Grant funds through the Department of Commerce. If that money would have been granted to the city, the city would have loaned at 4 percent interest for five years, to Fuller.
Also, the city would have loaned $147,490 from its Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund.
However, City Administrator Howard Partington said at the time that Fuller never signed or finalized the loan. “They never acted on it.”
So, the city doesn’t stand lose any of that money as a result of the bankruptcy.
Partington did say the loan offer could be brought up again to help the company, should it be feasible.
The company, founded in Connecticut in 1906 by Alfred C. Fuller and famous for its door-to-door “Fuller Brush Man” sales force, now sells personal care and household cleaning products directly and through retailers.
The Fuller facility sits on 123.46 acres at the corner of 10th and Airport roads and is leased to Fuller. Covering 572,114 square feet, the plant was built in 1973.