Another Brush-Maker Bites the Dust

Alphonso “A.K.” Harper and Alfred C. Fuller have a lot in common.

At the turn of the century, when they were each 21 years old, the young men, one in Iowa and one in New England, started businesses selling custom brushes door-to-door.

Harper developed a five-piece brush kit, using horse hair and hired a group of part-time college students that sold out of wagons in 1900. He later added brooms, mops and dust pans and moved to full-time “Harper men” salespeople until 1989, when the products entered retail stores. The company continues to be family owned and manufactures in Iowa, with two additional facilities.

Fuller began selling his custom brushes in 1906, and later added household cleaning products, including a well-known floor wax.

With a nearly identical history, Fuller’s crew began with just Fuller and his suitcase, later becoming the iconic “Fuller Brush man”often depicted in movies and cartoons. Although they continue to be sold door-to-door, Fuller Brush products have also made the jump to retail stores and are found nationwide.

Fuller Brush, however, has passed through several hands over the years, including Sara Lee Corp., and is currently owned by private equity firm Buckingham Capital Partners.

Both companies weathered the Great Depression, but the Great Recession has left an uncertain future for each company. Harper Brush filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday, joining Fuller Brush, which filed earlier this year.

Harper Brush has seen sales plummet in recent years. After a record year in 2007 with $53.5 million in sales, up from $24.7 million in 2002, the company expanded its manufacturing capacity and increased costs. It bought facilities in North Carolina and California in 2005.

Then sales shrunk during the recession and in 2010 Harper lost its largest customer, which had generated 35% its sales, according to court documents.

By 2011 sales had declined to lower than 2002 levels—just $23.5 million.

It’s also facing a dispute with its lender UMB Bank, which has not permitted Harper access to cash collateral and filed a temporary restraining order against the company on Friday. Harper is asking the court to approve its use of cash collateral on an interim basis and plans to have a bankruptcy lender lined up within seven days.

The company claimed $10.4 million in assets and $10 million in liabilities and is scheduled to make its first court appearance June 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.