SentrySafe is a brand of safes manufactured in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. It is owned by the

Master Lock Master Lock is an American company that sells padlocks, combination locks, safes, and related security products. Now a subsidiary of Fortune Brands Innovations, Master Lock Company LLC was formed in 1921 by locksmithing, locksmith-inventor Harry ...

Company. It markets safes designed for home, business, and gun storage. In addition to security, SentrySafe includes a range of

Underwriters Laboratories The UL enterprise is a global private safety company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions. Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded a ...

(UL)-rated safes to protect valuables from both fire and water.

History

In 1930, John Brush, Sr. and his brother-in-law, Willard Punnett, opened a small shop for the manufacture of safes at 545 West Avenue in

. The Brush-Punnett Company was a pioneer in the

stamping (metalworking) Stamping (also known as pressing) is the process of placing flat sheet metal in either blank or coil form into a stamping press where a tool and Die (manufacturing), die surface forms the metal into a net shape. Stamping includes a variety of s ...

of steel safes. During a long and arduous startup period that spanned the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the company had some success by selling safes to

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

for its dormitories and steel skids to

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

. In 1943, after purchasing his sister and brother's-in-law interest, John Brush Sr. became the sole owner of the company. It was Brush's intent to pass the business on to his sons John Jr., Richard, and Robert. John Jr. joined the business in 1954 after serving in the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, and graduating from

St. Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,100 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is nonsectarian, it was founded in 1 ...

(1950) and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. The company changed its name to John D. Brush & Co. in 1955. Brush & Co. moved into a new plant at 900 Linden Avenue in Rochester in 1968, with over . In 1987, it began doing business under the name Sentry Group, in order to better identify the company with its trademark name safes — "Sentry". Sentry Group produces more fire-resistant chests, safes, security storage containers, and

gun safes A gun safe is a safe designed for storing one or more firearms and/or ammunitions. Gun safes are primarily used to prevent access by unauthorized or unqualified persons (such as children), for burglary protection and, in more capable safes, to p ...

than any other company in the world and has won several awards, including "Vendor of the Year" from

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...

in 1999,

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

in 2001, and

OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. As an independent chain, it was the third-largest office supply retailer in the United States. Following a 2013 merger, it is currently a brand and subsidiary of Office Depot. ...

in 2002. In 2014 Sentry was sold to

, which is a division of

Fortune Brands Home & Security Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. (or "Fortune Brands") is an American manufacturer of home and security products, headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. Its portfolio of businesses and brands includes Moen and the House of Rohl; outdoor livin ...

. In 2016 Master Lock closed the Rochester, NY based production facilities and moved production to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Legal cases

In 1991, Michael Redman of Virginia brought a

product liability Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. Although the word "product" has ...

suit against Sentry Group after his

coin collection Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors include beautiful, rare, and historically significant pieces. Collectors may be interested, for example, in complete sets of a ...

was stolen out of his Sentry Supreme Safe, Model #5570. Redman noticed the safe in a Value-Tique advertisement that appeared in the magazine

Coin World ''Coin World'' is an American numismatic magazine, with weekly and monthly issues. It is among the world’s most popular non-academic publications for coin collectors and is covering the entire numismatic field, including coins, paper money, me ...

. The magazine had advertised the safe as a “burglar deterrent”. Redman won the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

, but the case was appealed. The

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...

reversed the decision, holding that Redman failed to present evidence demonstrating that the safe violated industry standards, government standards, or reasonable consumer expectations. Redman's safe was specifically designed to meet fire-resistant standards, but not “burglar deterrent” standards, even though it did provide “a degree of protection against burglary.” An

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

testified Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. Law In the law, testimony ...

that materials that enhance burglar-resistance on safes consequently reduce the fire-resistance.

References

Additional References

"About SentrySafe"

"Made In Our Hometown: SentrySafe, 13Wham, December 2012"

"At Sentry, Employees Feel Secure", R News website

"Alfred University Presents Awards to Four Rochester-area Family Businesses", AU Press Release 5/24/01, Alfred University website

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928055614/http://www.rbj.net/fullarticle.cfm?sdid=56665 "Sentry Group begins making large capacity gun safes here", Rochester Business Journal, by Andrea Deckert, August 29, 2005.]
Sentry Safe Guide
* "The Story of an American Small Business," Sentry Group company pamphlet, 2005. * "Fireproof hard drives unveiled by Sentry," Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, November 15, 2007, ''available at'' http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/BUSINESS/71115006/1001 * "Sentry Group Partners with Maxtor Storage Solutions on Fire-Safe/Waterproof Hard Drives," Sentry Group Press Release, November 13, 2007, ''available at'' https://web.archive.org/web/20071117121254/http://www.sentrysafe.com/content/news.aspx *"Last day for many Sentry Safe workers in Pittsford", 13WHAM, June 2016, http://13wham.com/news/local/last-day-for-many-sentry-safe-workers-in-pittsford

External links

* {{Official website Manufacturing companies established in 1930 1930 establishments in New York (state) Security equipment manufacturers