Smith’s

Category II
Smith Abrasives Inc.
Hot Springs

Thanks in part to recent economic conditions, Dan Glidden said, people are doing more cooking and more hunting.
That means they’re again using knives more frequently, which in turn means they’re using — and buying — more knife sharpeners.
This has proved to be an edge for Smith’s, a supplier of sharpening products.
“People are using knives a lot more,” said Glidden, who is chairman and CEO of Smith’s, “and they’re seeing the value of sharpening those products rather than buying another expensive knife.”
So much so, Glidden said, that Smith’s sales grew more than 20 percent in 2009.
“Our retailers continue to respond positively to our full range of products and the value of that offering to their consumers,” he said. “Consumers appreciate the selection we offer them and the very competitive prices of the products.”
Like its customers, Smith’s, which has been in business since 1886, has changed and adapted.
“For the first 110 years or so, we focused on mining and selling Arkansas stone — also known as novaculite — for use in sharpening almost anything with an edge,” he said. “The primary retail focus was sporting goods, and the company still sells in virtually all hunting and outdoor sports-oriented sporting goods retailers. In the past 10 years, the company has changed its focus to be the only full-line supplier of knife-sharpening equipment for consumers.”
The company developed new products that focused on providing consumers a choice of “innovative, easy-to-use knife, tool and scissors sharpeners,” Glidden said. “Smith’s also started focusing on other channels of distribution, including mass retail, hardware-home centers and housewares.”
This year, Smith’s is launching its first non-sharpening product, which Glidden called an “innovative and stylish mandoline slicer for fruit and vegetables, which is focused at the gourmet housewares channel. This is the first of many kitchen tools to be introduced in the next few years.”

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