W.B. Mason

W.B. Mason is the largest privately held office products dealer in the United States and is headquartered in Brockton, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1898 and has been family owned ever since. W.B. Mason has over 60 distribution centers across the United States. The company has more than 3,600 employees, including 1200 sales representatives. W.B. Mason leases 1100 delivery trucks from Ryder, and services more than 300,000 businesses,. W.B. Mason is the largest purchaser of goods from Essendant.HistoryW.B. Mason was founded in 1898 by William Betts Mason in Brockton, Massachusetts. Its world headquarters still remain in Brockton to this day. The company started as a business that sold printed products, engraved products, and rubber stamps.As the city of Brockton expanded in the early 20th century, largely due to the shoe industry, W.B. Mason, too, expanded its sales offerings to include office supplies.W.B. Mason has continued as a family owned and operated business since its founding. William Betts Mason ran the company until his death in 1912. The Mason family continued to oversee the company until the 1920s under William's wife, Marcena. In the late 1920s W.B. Mason was sold to an employee and Brockton businessman, Samuel Kovner, who started his career out by sweeping the floors at W.B. Mason as a boy.Under Kovner, the company reached sales of $243,000. In 1963 Kovner sold the company to his daughter and son-in-law, Helen and Joseph Greene. The Greenes added furniture sales to the company's selection and the W.B. Mason Company reached nearly a million dollars in sales upon Mr. Greene's passing in 1973. After his death, their son Steve Greene took over leadership of the company. In 1983 Steve Greene and his brother, John Greene, officially took over ownership from their mother. They invited the two top sales representatives, Leo Meehan and Thomas Golden to join the ownership group. By 1993, under Steve Greene's leadership, the company grew to $20 million in sales. In 1993 Steve Greene replaced his mother Helen Greene as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.