Delta
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History
The story of how Delta Faucet Company grew to become the largest, most influential faucet company in its industry demonstrates where true American spirit, values, and determination can take a company.
In the early 1920s, an entrepreneurial Armenian immigrant named Alex Manoogian came to the United States to escape a life of persecution in Turkey. He settled in Detroit with nothing more than a suitcase and $50. Driven by determination to succeed and to provide his family with a better life, he worked hard at various general labor and machinist jobs until he had enough money to buy a screw machine. Eventually, he invested in more equipment and in 1928 Manoogian and two partners founded the Masco Screw Products Company. The company grew – even through the Great Depression — and by the mid-1930s, Masco’s annual sales exceeded $1 million.
Manoogian was always on the lookout for new product ideas. In the early 1950s, an inventor from California brought Manoogian what, at the time, was considered an oddity: a single-handle faucet. The invention featured a ball valve that combined volume control with the mixing of hot and cold water. Though the inventor’s design leaked, it was easy to operate and repair. Manoogian saw the bigger idea behind it and bought the inventor’s rights. He improved the design, and in 1954 he introduced the first successful washerless ball valve faucet: the Delta faucet, named for the faucet cam shaped like the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. Because it had no washers to replace, and didn’t leak or drip, it was a true breakthrough.
Manoogian initially tried to sell the design to established plumbing businesses, but when they scoffed at his invention, he started selling the faucets himself. Word spread, and Delta faucets gained popularity with plumbers and plumbing wholesalers. In the late 1950s, Manoogian moved the company to Greensburg, Indiana, where he founded the Delta Faucet Company. The rest is history.
Over the last half-century, Delta has continuously introduced a tremendous range of faucets, products, and accessories. Today, the company sells more than a million faucets a month and has manufacturing facilities in six locations around the world.
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