MARCH 26, 2024 • OLEAN TIMES HERALD
CUTCO MARKS 75 YEARS IN OLEAN ‘We’ve been able to build something strong that a lot of people rely on’
By BOB CLARK OLEAN — On April 29, 1949, several men loaded a sedan with boxes off of a loading dock. Packed inside were 50 knife sets, bound for a Wear-Ever Aluminum warehouse in Kensington, Pa. Millions more would follow over the next 75 years Cutco Corp. marks a diamond anniversary this year, with a local workforce of about 700 employees. Growing from a collaborative effort between a Pittsburgh metals manufacturer looking to grow its consumer products and a Pennsylvania knifemaker, the company now is one of the largest employers in the area and is under local control. The company also employs around 100 sales managers na-
tionwide, in addition to 15,000 to 20,000 independent sales representatives working as contractors every year. “We were founded to sell high-quality cutlery through direct sales — and that’s what we’re doing,” said Cutco President and CEO Jim Stitt. “We’re thriving at 75 — not just surviving, but thriving.” Alcas Corp., the original parent company of the Cutco brand, was founded in 1949 by aluminum producer ALCOA and W.R. Case & Sons of Bradford, Pa., as Alcoa sought to diversify its household manufacturing into cutlery. With rising costs and shifts by rivals to overseas production, Alcoa began to move away from consumer product manufacturing in the 1980s. The firm consolidated
marketing and other services for the Alcas division in Olean in early 1982. In September of that year, five local managers, led by Erick Laine, purchased the company. Laine led the company until he retired in 2008, passing along the CEO mantle to Jim Stitt, whose sons now run the firm — Jim Stitt heading Cutco, and John Stitt heading KA-BAR.
MORE RECENTLY, the Stitt brothers said that the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic led to record sales thanks to prudent planning and financial health of the company — helping keep employees on the payroll despite government-ordered shutdowns. “We didn’t really know what was happening,” Jim Stitt said. “The purpose that we
have with this company is providing livelihoods — we couldn’t not pay them. We felt that they earned it. “We felt they would be able to pick up and start moving again,” he said, which proved to be the case at the best time. “Our business took off because people were home. When we started up again, we had an eight-week backlog in the factory — 2020 became a very successful year in that regard — not necessarily our best year or happiest.” John Stitt said the company couldn’t make product fast enough. “We blew through four months of inventory in six weeks — it was Black Friday every day for 14 months,” he said. “2021 was our best year, 2020 was our ������continued on page A-3
Photos courtesy of Cutco Corporation Robert S. Adams (from left), Nelmer Johnson and John O’Kain load up the first shipment of Cutco knives produced at the Olean facility on April 29, 1949.
Proud to be in Olean Since 1949.
1-800-828-0448 • www.cutco.com