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One hundred twenty-five years ago, St. Stephen, New Brunswick was a hub of commerce on the St. Croix River that borders the westernmost point of this Canadian province. Traffic from the lumbering and shipbuilding trades clogged the waterway.
Two enthusiastic, entrepreneurial brothers, James and Gilbert Ganong were anxious to get a share of the prosperity that was stretching the limits of this town. But they did not dream about adding to the industry of the region. Rather, they sought to provide a service to those who toiled in the shipyards and lumber mills.
By pooling their resources, the brothers opened a general store in 1873. However, St. Stephen already had its share of general stores. "They needed a competitive difference," notes Ganong Bros.' President David Ganong. "So they hired a candymaker to make fresh candy in the store as a draw, and ultimately went into the candy business and out of the retail business."
Signs of success
"Always make sure that whistle blows. It shows the success of the business." This philosophy of Arthur Ganong, company president from 1917-1957, is as important to Ganong now as it was when Arthur was leading the company. While the traditional whistle no longer blows at Ganong's factory to signal shift changes, signs of the company's success are still visible.
The most obvious change is the one in 1990 when Ganong built and moved into a new C$13 million 135,000-square-foot factory on the edge of St. Stephen. Its previous home (for 110 years of the company's existence) was a five-story brick building in the center of town, which has been re-developed into shops, offices and a restaurant.
About this site, David Ganong recalls, "We reached a stage where with five stories, and wooden floors, it took a lot of work to maintain it. And Good Manufacturing Practices made it more difficult to operate there comfortably. The building was built when there was a terrific amount of labor utilized as opposed to machinery. But today, trying to get in-line systems working properly generally requires them to be on the same floor. So it became increasingly difficult to operate as efficiently as we thought it should be."
Increased capacity was also an issue for the company back in 1989, when...