Company Background

Since 1933 Broner ® Inc., an ISO 9001 accredited corporation that designs, manufactures and sells hats, gloves and safety equipment, has been in the business of distributing high quality products tailored to the needs of its consumers.

Beginning in the glove and worker supply field and later expanding to add caps, scarves and fashion accessories, Broner Inc. has grown from a three-person operation focused on Detroit’s autoworkers, to a worldwide corporation providing superior safety equipment and fashion accessories to retailers in all 50 U.S. states and Japan. 75 years later, the business remains, as it began; a family owned and operated business by the Broner family.

In the 1920s, Harry Broner, the company’s founder, began selling protective hats, gloves and aprons to Ford auto workers when its first assembly line was built directly across from the Broner family home. Thousands of workers would walk by on their way into work and stand operations proved successful. After the Great Depression from 1929 to 1933 came the rise of auto unions, and selling anything directly to the autoworkers proved extremely difficult. That’s when Harry Broner decided to change the focus of his business from retail to distribution.

In 1933, enlisting his son, Barney and daughter, Lil as the company’s first employees, he began selling gloves to retailers out of the family home on Manchester Street in Highland Park. It was the official beginning of Broner Inc. and of a business that would grow and evolve for decades to come.

Due to its quick success and the need for additional space and employees, Broner took over its first official business space through the purchase of a building on Linwood Avenue in Detroit in 1941, where the company remained for more than 20 years. There the organization began to expand its product lines beyond safety equipment. Fueled by the company’s success, and a family passion for hats, Broner Inc. began a new product line in 1965, offering caps, gloves, scarves and fashion accessories.

The growing success of the company’s two lines – Broner Glove & Safety and Broner Hat & Glove – coupled with damage to the city of Detroit resulting from the 1967 riots prompted Broner to move its headquarters from the city to a larger space in Ferndale, where they operated for 12 years. The retail line was quickly becoming popular, and it wasn’t long before the safety and fashion lines were both going strong.

The Broner management team knew that in order to keep up with demand, they would need two separate divisions to meet retailers’ demands. By 1975, the company hired a new sales manager whose focus would be solely on the safety department while David Broner, a third generation Broner family employee, became the leader of a team focused only on the company’s retail line.

Broner reached a milestone in the late 1970s that would allow the company’s reach to stretch well beyond the boundaries of Detroit, and even the state of Michigan – the creation of the first Broner catalog. Copies were mailed to key farm states and retailers across the nation. The response was incredible. Phones began ringing off the hook and Broner had to create a toll free number and hire more customer service operators just to keep up with the demand.

This new reach was an eye-opener to the world of opportunities that existed beyond its office doors. Broner representatives soon began attending trade shows, gaining greater presence in the industry while reaching consumers from all over the world.

Staff and production continued to grow and again the company was in need of yet a larger space for operations. In 1979, Broner moved from Ferndale to Troy. During that time, the progression of imported goods made its impact on the company and its customers. Broner gained a sizeable advantage over its competition by gaining direct access to importers instead of relying on third party companies to access the materials needed to create its products. This drastically reduced production costs and allowed the company to offer lower prices to retailers.

Demand for Broner products continued to grow. After a dozen more years of business progression, Broner built the facility in Auburn Hills, Mich., where the company remains today. Since the company’s inventory and warehouse picking system is bar coded for maximum speed and efficiency the new facility was designed around technology. In all, the facility totals 42,000 square feet – 30,000 of which is warehouse space while 12,000 square feet is utilized for office and showroom space.

In 1999, Broner achieved ISO 9001 accreditation – an international quality standard used to assess a company’s ability to meet customer needs and regulatory requirements. It is an accomplishment few hat and glove manufacturers have achieved and is a testament to the superiority of Broner’s products and customer satisfaction.

75 years from its start in a little house on Manchester Street, Broner Inc. now operates two divisions and sells products at such retailers as CVS Pharmacy; Hat World/Lids; CSK Auto Stores; Dr. Jays, and Meijer. In all, the company employs more than 50 people, with 10 commissioned sales people in states outside of Michigan. Currently, two leaders of the team, President Bob Broner and Stephanie Miller, vice president of purchasing, are fourth generation Broner family employees.

Even with all its growth, Broner Inc. remains true to its dedication to hats and gloves, and its start as a Detroit area family company.