Sabco is an Australian company specialising in cleaning and garden products. It was established in South Australia in 1892 as the South Australian Brush Company by W. E. Hay. It has been wholly owned by the American Libman Company since 2009.
Sabco has been a household name for brooms and brushes in South Australia for over a century.
Initially, the South Australian Brush Company was quite small, and its products were hand crafted. Over time, the company grew, and adopted more automated production processes. In 1930, the factory was in
Flinders Street, Adelaide
Flinders Street is a main street in the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from the northern end of Victoria Square to East Terrace, Adelaide. It is one of the intermediate-width streets of the Adelaide grid, at wide. . It established a new factory after World War II in what had been a munitions factory at
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...
.
In 1970, Sabco took over the century-old
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
broom and brush company, Zevenboom. In 1979, Sabco acquired the Melbourne-based Dawn Plastics and established a garden products division.
In 1981, it acquired a competitor, the Lincoln Brush Company, that had manufactured paint brushes in South Australia for over thirty years.
In 1993, Sabco was acquired out of receivership by the US firm Tomlin Industries.
At that time, the factory was in
Albert Park, a north-western suburb of Adelaide.
In 2003, Sabco was acquired by the US firm
Hardware Wholesalers Inc. In May 2007, the
Libman Company of the USA took up 50% ownership, increased to 100% in 2009.
See also
*
List of oldest companies in Australia
This list of oldest businesses and companies in Australia includes businesses, whether incorporated or organised in a different form (such as a partnership). However, the list excludes non-commercial associations and educational
Education ...
*
List of South Australian manufacturing businesses
A list of manufacturing companies founded in South Australia, many now forgotten but "household names" in their day. It does not include local affiliates of multinational companies, such as General Motors Holden, Kelvinator and Philips Electrical ...
References
Australian companies established in 1892
Manufacturing companies established in 1892
Manufacturing companies based in Adelaide
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