Here's a forty year old ad for 'the Carroll System'. Over the 20 years I was involved as a founder, our company developed many new innovations in the geriatric care field. I used to say it was because we were a small company and more flexible than the big players. In reality much of the newer, simpler features were enabled just because we didn't have the machinery to manufacture the more complicated products. Molding the drawers out of polyethylene, bending the bed frame to receive the head and footboards and later compression molding the bed decks from from thermosets were three examples where I continued to reduce the use of traditional methods and materials for a less labour intensive end result.
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| One of my home made ad sheets we used to mail to nursing homes. |
Our competition hated these new ideas. Big companies like HillRom, Joerns, Metalcraft and more were perfectly contented making a commodity product the same way they had been doing it for decades. Slowly, Carroll Equipment (later Carroll Healthcare) ate away at these companies' captive market, rocking the boat and becoming more than just a minor irritant.
Finally in 1995 I was approached by two different concerns wanting to buy the company. J. P. Chartrand represented the Quebec Teacher's Union. He said he liked what he saw in Carroll Healthcare and made an offer. At nearly the same time, two local London businessmen Don Roussey and Archie Leach approached me and offered more money. We shook hands at lunch at the Carousel Motel on Wellington Rd and the sale was complete.
Cover letter included in mailings and product literature circa 1990: (back when 1 - 5 million was a lot of money)
Carroll Healthcare is a 100 percent Canadian owned London company that
designs and manufactures patient room furniture including hospital style beds
and casegoods. The products are designed specifically for long term care
institutions such as nursing homes and homes for the aged. This specialized
furniture is sold all over North America. In
the United States, the
hospital beds are distributed through Thomasville Furniture Inc. based in North Carolina. Carroll
Equipment is 'very flattered that a giant, American company (like Thomasville) would select a Canadian product to distribute
in the United States'.
Carroll Equipment prides itself on its leadership and competitiveness through innovative
features and high quality products. Among other significant features found in
their products, the articulating mattress deck of the bed is moulded from a
composite material and its design won best of category 'consumer goods' at the
Society of Plastics Institute annual convention in Cincinnati in 1994. Carroll Healthcare was
the first moulder of this composite formulation in Canada. Products produced include
beds (manual and electric), bed side rails, bedside cabinets, dressers and freestanding
wardrobe units. The manufacturing division utilizes steel, wood and plastics,
mostly processed in-house at the recently expanded Carroll plant in south London.
Company Details:
Year Established: 1976
Total Sales ($CDN): $1,000,000 - $5,000,000
Number of Employees: 38
The deal closed April 15 1996 and at the ripe old age of 47 my early retirement began after a year or so working with the new owners as a consultant. Of course there's a lot more to the story than disclosed in this post and I'd be happy to bore you with more the next time we meet.
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Left to Right: Tim, Ray, Vince (back of head), Dave (Davo), Ed, and Max.
