Sourcing American-made parts has made manufacturing more expensive for Rhode Island-based Garland Writing Instruments, but owner Rick Becker can feel the difference every time he picks up a pen.
“It has a weight to it,” he said. “A nice feel. It’s nice, smooth ink. It’s a nice, quality pen and it’s a reasonable price.”
The business wasn’t something Becker had envisioned owning. Garland started out in 1927, originally as a pencil manufacturer. It evolved into a three-generation family business, switching from pencils to pens after they grew in popularity in the 1940s.
Becker purchased the company in May 2013 from Louise Lanoie, whose grandfather founded the company.
Becker, originally an engineer, has since made several changes intended to further align the company with the modern writing marketplace.
The promotional market remains its bread-and-butter, but Becker made a commitment to sourcing the materials used in Garland products from American vendors. The company no longer imports pens produced overseas, and instead focuses on assembling its own pens, using suppliers that create the metal plating for the body.
Most of the internal mechanisms within the pen are made at Garland, which has retained its Coventry factory. Becker also purchased the trademarked photo processes through which the company applies a high-quality logo or visual image to the top of a pen.
The result makes a difference when companies are trying to promote themselves, he said. Promotional products carry the name of the company, and also leave a message.
“A lot of companies, when they’re trying to brand their product, they want to do it with a quality product,” Becker said. “If you put it on a piece of junk, people associate it with junk.”
Under Becker’s ownership, the company has added a small retail store to its Coventry headquarters.
In the future, he is examining branching out into gift and business sets associated with fine pens, including desk sets and portfolios.
And he has gradually upgraded the factory floor itself.
One of the biggest capital investments he’s made since taking control of the company was to retrofit the workplace fluorescent lighting with energy-efficient LED lights. The process took some time, but will pay for itself within two years, he estimated.
For his product, employees need to have exceptional lighting to match colors and finishes exactly.
“I’ve probably lowered my electrical bills by 25 percent, just changing the light fixtures,” he said.
Nearly 100 years after the company began, the demand for pens remains high, he said. The transition of American culture to digital products doesn’t mean an end to handwriting.
“We’re a very high-quality writing instrument,” he said. “And a lot of people like to have a nice pen.” •
