Obit of the Day: From Pliers to Massage Chairs
Today we honor Pierre deBeaumont, and his wife Mary Deland, who made it possible for us to find and try massage chairs in malls and airports around the United States. That is because in 1965 in their farmhouse parlor they began creating a mail-order business that originally focused on hard-to-find tools. (Mr. de Beaumont was inspired by is own difficulties as a model ship builder roaming the local hardware store.) They decided to name their company after their farm: Brookstone. The were a two-person operation for the first several years. The produced their own catalog (sold for 20¢ to keep kids from taking them) and would then hand-fill orders.
They expanded into gifts and gourmet foods and by 1979 Brookstone was earning $22 million a year. The sold the company the next year to…wait for it…Quaker Oats Company….of course!
If you are unfamiliar with Brookstone and its 300 stores nationwide, click here to get a full feel of the eclectic inventory.
(The logo is a registered trademark of Brookstone via www.examiner.com)
