Brinly-Hardy Company

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Brinly-Hardy Company
IndustryLawn Care Equipment
FoundedSimpsonville, KY - 1839; 185 years ago (1839)
Headquarters
Websitewww.brinly.com

Brinly-Hardy Company is an American corporation located in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Brinly-Hardy designs, manufactures and sells lawn care products including aerators, carts, lawn vac systems, dethatchers, sweepers, broadcast spreaders, sprayers, and rollers; gardening equipment such as plows, disc harrows, and cultivators and landscaping products such as rear blades and box scrapers.[1][2]

History[edit]

Brinly-Hardy Company Building

In 1800, John Brinly, a blacksmith in Simpsonville, Kentucky built and sold cast iron plows to Kentucky farmers.[3] In 1837, his son Thomas Brinly, designed and built one of North America's first one-piece steel plows using a large saw blade. The new design largely replaced cast iron plows commonly used by farmers throughout the American South,[4] forcing Brinly to open manufacturing centers in numerous Southern cities.[3]

In 1859, Brinly moved the company headquarters to Louisville, Kentucky. And in 1863, he partnered with James Edward Hardy to create Brinly, Dodge and Hardy.[3] During the American Civil War, federal troops destroyed several of Brinly's manufacturing and retail outlets throughout the South as he was a Confederate sympathizer. Rather than rebuild, the company consolidated in Louisville and grew its product line.[3][4] In 1900, the name Brinly-Hardy Company was adopted.[4] In 1902, Thomas Brinly died and James E. Hardy was named president.

Current status[edit]

Brinly Poly Cart

Between 1980 and 1984, Brinly-Hardy shifted its current focus to manufacturing lawn care equipment.[5] In 1996, James E. Hardy's great-great-granddaughter,[4] Jane W. Hardy, became CEO of Brinly-Hardy Company.[6] And in 1999, the company moved its facilities across the Ohio River to Jeffersonville, Indiana to make room for Louisville Slugger field.[6] In August 2008, Brinly-Hardy acquired Spyker Spreaders,[citation needed] manufacturers of commercial-grade broadcast spreaders and outdoor power equipment.[7]

Brinly-Hardy products are distributed and sold throughout the United States at local retailers and chain home improvement stores [2] such as Home Depot as well as online retail outlets like Amazon.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Company Overview of Brinly-Hardy, Inc". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Brinly-Hardy, Inc". Inside View. Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Kleber, James A. (2001). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Louisville: The University Press of Kentucky. p. 125. ISBN 0813121000.
  4. ^ a b c d "Family business Beats the Odds". Farm Collector. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  5. ^ "History". Brinly-Hardy, Inc. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  6. ^ a b Mann, David A. "Profile: Brinly-Hardy's Jane Hardy". American City Business Journals. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  7. ^ Olsen, Daniel. "Spyker Spreaders, Brinly-Hardy - Lawn Broadcast Spreader". www.better-lawn-care.com. Retrieved 6 May 2013.

External links[edit]