In celebration of Seachrome’s Anniversary of 40 years under the ownership of Sam Longo Jr. and Sr. approaching on December 2nd, we return to our roots, back to the origins of our humble start. After nearly half a century, we share with you how Seachrome came to be as you know it, its history, and where the journey began.
Photo: The Seachrome Team in the warehouse circa 2017. Sam Jr. (right) and Sam Sr. (left) pictured first row far right.
The Start of Seachrome
It was December 2nd, 1983, Sam Longo Jr.’s 27th birthday. Business had been going well, but it was about to get even better that day. A new chapter had started, and Seachrome was officially born into a new beginning. Sam Jr. was ready to tackle business alongside his father, Sam Sr., in the manufacturing industry.
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After 30 years of working alongside his business partner as a machinery distribution salesman, Sam Sr. felt it was time to move on to new business ventures. Sam Jr., on the other hand, had been practicing law for two years, not fulfilled, and choosing the law career path in hopes of gaining a good education and possibly a fun experience. Both ready for a change in their life, they had gotten to talking and proposed they go into business together. They had created their own company called Longo Machinery as a father-son duo as machinery distribution salesmen. But the business proposal didn’t end there, they had bigger ideas. With a sturdy foundation of machinery knowledge, Sam Sr.’s extensive experience in sales, and Sam Jr.’s law background, the Longo duo didn’t want to continue as distributors; they wanted to produce. They wanted to become manufacturers as a business running production in their own warehouse.
Part of the day-to-day at Longo Machinery meant going out in the field, visiting different warehouses with a need for their business, but it wasn’t all sales. One day, they had been invited to appraise equipment in a warehouse at a manufacturing company with a not-so-promising future. The warehouse had been run down and not properly functioning. The original owner had passed away with no heir to the estate; the company’s life was all left up to that of the bank. But the Longo Machinery duo didn’t see it as such; they saw it as a step closer to making their big ideas into reality. They told the bank they’d be interested in buying the company if it was ever looking to sell, and that- it was. A year later, they were offered to buy up the company, that company was known as Sea Chrome.
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Sea Chrome was developed in July 1955 in Southern California as a residential bath accessory company, adopting its name from the last name of its original owner and the basis that the company specialized in chrome plating.
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With official ownership of the company, Sam Sr. and Sam Jr. had rebranded Sea Chrome to Seachrome, maintaining the company’s essence while indoctrinating their own identity. The company continued to manufacture bath accessories and chrome plate products like towel bars and toilet paper holders. Eventually, chrome plating was phased out as well as the machinery distribution. Sam Jr. partook in other endeavors like real estate development and Sam Sr. oversaw Seachrome. With only a handful of designs and a small market, Seachrome rarely ever sold shower seats. Lucky to have even sold any shower seats for the year, each sale on a seat was cause for celebration, a big brass bell was rung in the office as declaration of a sale.
However, business unknowingly took a turn for the better, altering the trajectory of their business journey moving forward. In 1990, the ADA (American Disabilities Act) was enacted, and bath items like grab bars and shower seats became a requirement instead of an option. Not long after ADA had been in effect, Sam Sr. attended a trade show advertising a display of Seachrome’s very own shower seat. At the show, another manufacturing company approached Sam Sr. inquiring if they manufactured shower seats themselves. That’s when Seachrome had an unexpected shift, propelling them into the commercial space. Shower seat sales would no longer face scarcity, instead becoming Seachrome’s expertise.
As the business continued to grow, it outgrew its place of operation. Seachrome moved to a new location where Sam Jr. and Sam Sr. worked heavily alongside one another as an unbeatable duo that worked harmoniously together. Sam Sr. was known to be charismatic and outgoing, a great salesman. He oversaw sales while Sam Jr. oversaw the finances and performance of the company. They obtained other companies together and separately along the way, but it all started with Seachrome. And with them, Seachrome became what it is today, a growing company and an industry expert in shower seats and grab bars.