Stromberg Carlson Products’ David Stromberg started tooling mobile home steps in 1958 for another Traverse City, Michigan, resident. Though he already owned and worked at a tool and die plant with his son-in-law Robert Brammer Sr., Stromberg bought the mobile home steps’ patents and gave them to Brammer.
Robert Brammer Jr., president of Stromberg Carlson Products, Inc., said Stromberg did it so he would not have to work with Bob Brammer Sr. anymore. Stromberg was a Protestant automotive and aerospace tool and die worker. His son-in-law was a former jockey, golden glove boxer and Methodist.
“They were both very good businessmen,” Bob Brammer Jr. said. “They just had different ways of doing business. Grandpa was a workaholic with a drafting table in his basement. I’m not saying he was not kind, just a no nonsense, self-educated, Swedish man.”
Robert Brammer Sr., who sold mobile homes while attending Western Michigan University for engineering, started travelling and selling mobile home steps to distributors after graduating. He used parts from Stromberg’s tool and die plant next door to make the steps. Stromberg stayed with his tool and die business, simultaneously helping his son-in-law with tooling, equipment and finances.
After a few years of business, Stromberg Carlson shifted from making mobile home to RV products, like steel and plastic stacker jacks. “I’m assuming after my dad was doing mobile homes in the 60s and 70s, he started looking around at other products,” said Robert Brammer Jr. Other endeavors to diversify and increase sales included both a boat anchor and tire carrier product line, as well as an oil tool business.
“The patent on the mobile home steps was running out, and mobile homes were upgrading in a way that design was not keeping up with,” Robert Brammer Jr. said. “The oil tool business just about sank him. Then I was hired.” Stromberg Carlson never went out of business, though.
“Our first two good products were actually knockoffs of other peoples’, who were poorly marketing their products,” Robert Brammer Jr. said. When he started in the family business, Stromberg Carlson was making roof vent covers, then dirt skirts.
“We hit our first home run, and it is still a grand slam, with our Lend-A-Hand handrail.” Though first-year sales were under $10,000 in 1988, they slowly gained traction. When Robert Brammer Sr. passed in 1993, Robert Brammer Jr. became president. He and his brother Charles, company vice president, used their inherited money to buy injection molding equipment for Stromberg Carlson.
When the North American Free Trade agreement was signed in 1994, Stromberg Carlson was vertically integrated and did not want to import from overseas. As many other manufacturers outsourced cheaper material from China, Stromberg Carlson struggled to make money domestically.
“We hit the wall by trying to stay relevant. We made too much in house, not realizing we had to join the importing club,” said Charles Brammer. “We were never the cheapest, but we have always been focused on putting out the highest quality we can.” As Stromberg Carlson’s product catalog shrank from ten pages to three, the company tooled up new products and imported components from Taiwan.
“I am scratching my head thinking, ‘How did we survive that?’” said Charlie Brammer. “One of our saving graces at Stromberg was we were really chugging along in the mobile office industry.” One of the Stromberg Carlson’s best customers was GE Modular, who bought mobile office steps, the product that made up 75 percent of Stromberg Carlson’s business volume.
“It worked out well that they were there for us during that learning experience starting off showing RV products,” Charlie Brammer said. Today, Stromberg Carlson does almost 99.9 percent of their business in the RV industry. President Robert Brammer Jr. and Vice President Charles Brammer run the family business together. Stromberg Carlson’s best-selling products remain their handrails, along with RV ladders, electric gun jacks, landing gear, tailgates and base pads.
