40 Years Ago
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN FRANK VANDERSLOOT
Forty Years of Success Makes All the Difference!
This month is Melaleuca’s 40th birthday. It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve been in business now for 40 years! When we first opened our doors, we operated out of the old S&H Green Stamps building in Idaho Falls, Idaho. We started with just eight products, which were all based on the properties of Melaleuca Oil. In fact, Melaleuca Oil was our primary product. We operated out of that building for five years, before we outgrew it and had to find something else. We were growing fast, and needed something larger, quickly. This, our 40th year, has been one of the best years of growth that we’ve had in our 40-year history. And I can confidently say that the best is yet to come.” Ziggy’s hardware had recently gone out of business, and it was the only vacant building in town. We didn’t have time to build a new building, so we bought Ziggy’s, added a second floor, put in a bunch of windows out front, and gave it a nice facade. We lived in that remodeled hardware store for more than 20 years! I’m really proud of the fact that we made it to $1.5 billion in annual sales from Ziggy’s hardware store! Clearly, we weren’t into trying to make a flashy impression with fancy digs. We invested everything that we had back into the company—
into research, development, ingredients, and facilities. We built a factory and distribution center in Idaho Falls, and then another one in Knoxville, Tennessee. When we outgrew Ziggy’s, we built the building that, today, serves as our new global headquarters. I say “new,” but actually we finished it 10 years ago. This impressive structure provides us with 355,000 total square feet of office space. We also have millions of square feet of other operating, manufacturing, and distribution facilities worldwide. I’m sharing this history with you because I feel that the progression of our headquarters represents the progression that we have made in every single area as a company. Not only are the buildings we live in today totally different than when we began, but every aspect of our business has improved in a similar fashion. Forty years of progress can make a tremendous difference. Our products have improved dramatically. We went from eight products, centered around Melaleuca Oil, to hundreds of jaw-droppers that all provide unmatched benefits at an unbeatable value. In fact, we now have more than 450 unique wellness products. We hold more than 100 patents. We’ve invested millions of dollars in product research and have made dozens of scientific breakthroughs—all protected by patents or trade secrets. We’ve also invested hundreds of millions of dollars into computer programming that globally links all of our computer systems in 20 different countries.
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