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Samuel Cabot Inc. Newburyport, Mass.

Cabot (2) also created the first titanium-based white house paint on the market. Other products to come from the Cabot (2) laboratory included lubricating oils, wood putties, wood preservatives, brick and cement waterproofing, and interior stains.

Samuel Cabot (3) began working for his father after graduating from Harvard in 1933, and focused his efforts on sales and marketing. Through his efforts, the company developed a network of customers in West Germany and in Australia, where Cabot partnered with Kenneth H. Brock & Son Pty. Ltd., known as Kenbrock.

In 1970, Kenbrock began importing concentrates of all Cabot products and letting them down (diluting them and canning them) in its own plant. From that time forward, the company could say its products were “Packaged in Australia.” As a result, today Cabot sells more stain per capita in Australia than anywhere in the world, including the United States.

Sam Cabot (4) joined the company in 1969, two years after his grandfather’s death. In 1978, Cabot (3) retired and proudly handed the keys to his son.

The latest Sam Cabot has brought about management changes, operational improvements and product developments that have recharged the business. With new products fueling growth and with increased market penetration, Cabot saw revenues nearly double during the last five years of the 20th century. Today, the Cabot family business is a $50 million company, with more than 150 employees — 52 in sales — operating from a $9 million, 125,000-square-foot facility.

The power of independents
Cabot (4)’s leadership is marked by his focus on the company’s stronghold of 4,803 independent retailers.

Many independent retailers were not able to survive the advent of the mass merchants. The ones left standing replaced their nationally branded stock (which their customers could find discounted at the big chains) with independent, high-quality brands, including Cabot. Because of this loyalty, Cabot began seeing significant revenue growth. Since 1993, the number of new accounts added by the company’s sales force has accelerated.

“We’ve told the independent paint dealer we’re not going to go into Home Depot and the other mass merchants,” says today’s Sam Cabot. “You can’t be in this business and walk both sides of the street with the same brand. We’re one of the few companies that still services the independent.”

The company expanded its reach to co-ops at the suggestion of John Schutz, who was hired as vice president of sales in 1993 and now serves as president, the first non-Cabot family member to hold that position. The two largest U.S. co-ops — fraternities of independent retailers who join forces for added buying and marketing clout — are True Value (representing 9,000 independent stores) and ACE (about 6,500 independents).

“Being a family-owned business has been an advantage for us,” says Cabot (4). “Our customers are the independent paint, hardware and home center stores, almost all of whom are family-run and -owned. They clearly identify with us and know that they can always talk to a Cabot.

Challenges ahead
“The greatest challenge facing the consumer wood-coatings manufacturers today is, without question, the legislation in place and on the horizon that limits the amounts of VOCs in architectural coatings,” says Riskin, vice president of marketing. “Water-based coatings are clearly the wave of the future for Cabot and much of the coatings industry.”

Reily says that Cabot will continue to compete in the oil market — and produce top-performing coatings in this category — but the company will place equal emphasis on water-based coatings. Many of Cabot’s flagship products are already 100 percent (water-based) acrylic.

As products change in response to industry needs, one important thing — family ownership — will remain the same at Samuel Cabot.

“We frequently are approached by companies who would eagerly acquire us,” says today’s Sam Cabot. “However, I have spent my entire life building the company and the management team, and this is something that I prize and am very proud of. To sell to someone who would destroy what I have worked so hard to build is abhorrent to me.”

Cabot is confident that the business has a strong future.

“This is a company that has become a very successful niche marketer in an industry that is dominated by giants,” Cabot says. “We are skillful at walking and prospering among these giants without getting hurt.”

For more information on Samuel Cabot Inc. and its product lines, please visit their Web site.