Business View Magazine | June 2022

45 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 6 CLARKE PRODUCTS INC . independent plumbing wholesalers around the country. The firm currently employs about 100 people. As Clarke explains, “We’ve had challenges with that – not with skilled office staff but the plant workers are pretty hard to come by. Waco, Texas is a hotbed of manufacturing, with a lot of new companies coming in, so there’s competition for the employees. But we value our staff and we’re dedicated to continuing to improve the automation in our plant, wherever we can make it work, to make it a more efficient and enjoyable place to work.” original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for other manufacturers. A major amount of their business has been devoted to private label, with their largest OEM customer being Ferguson Enterprises – one of the biggest plumbing wholesalers in the world. Clarke Products have made private label bathtubs for them for 30 years. They also make a significant amount of product for Kohler Company, as well as many other accounts, including Hastings Company out of New York City – a high-end, solid surface bathtub plumbing firm. On the more traditional front, they do a fair amount of ecommerce through Wayfair, and are just starting a new program with Lowes, as well as dealing with