Lucky Line Products has been family owned since 1961 with a simple principle at the core of its operations: treat customers, suppliers & employees well to ensure long-term success.
Lucky Line Products has been family owned since 1961 with a simple principle at the core of its operations: treat customers, suppliers & employees well to ensure long-term success. Our mission is to embody the highest standards in business. We apply these high standards to all of our products, and across all product lines. There is no better way to build loyal customer relationships. The quality of our product offering is ensured by using the right raw materials, unparalleled manufacturing, superior testing, and exacting control standards. At Lucky Line, our final measure of quality is total, end-user satisfaction.
We’ve built our organization around our customers’ needs. From new product development, to product packaging, and product promotion, we combine customer input to come up with the right solutions. By analyzing sales trends, we make certain we’re carrying the most current product mix and most appropriate selection for your customers. We use the latest inventory management systems to make sure we have the products on hand when you need them in stock. Finally, once ordered, our fast turn-around delivers you the correct products quickly.
We provide our field sales personnel and our home-office merchandising team with the right tools and knowledge. We have the know-how, materials, and tools to plan and execute the product presentation you desire. We also provide complete advertising materials, co-op support, consumer information, and product promotions that fit your market needs. We’ve put it all in place to bring you the best opportunities for success.
Lucky Line started as Deluxe Mfg. in 1948, located in Los Angeles, CA by Fred Barr. At that time the company’s source of revenue came from a single product, still sold today: the company’s No. 101 tag with Ball Chain. The company’s customers were car dealerships in the Los Angeles area. In 1961 Fred Barr passed away, and his widow, Marie, sold the business to Ray Howard for $5,000. Marie was a former silent screen star who had long-since retired, and had no interest in continuing to operate and manage her husband’s business.
Ray Howard changed the name to Lucky Charm Mfg. Co. He looked at the one product the company sold, asked himself who needed this product, and decided Locksmiths were a viable target market because they are in the business of selling locks. His first mailing went out shortly thereafter!
In 1964 Ray Howard moved the business to La Jolla, where his young wife wanted to raise their 3 children, ages 12, 10 & 4. In those early days, a good day meant a bike ride to work, an order for 500 key tags, a bike ride to the post office by way of the beach, and back to work to land a new order for the next day.
In the early 70s the company name was changed to Lucky Line Products, Inc., and moved to an industrial space in San Diego that was twice as large as the La Jolla facility. Within 7 years, the company outgrew that space and moved to a space twice as large again. During this time, while the company’s retail locksmith business grew, so did the company’s retail hardware business. Moving into the retail space required more room for raw parts to be assembled, packaging, equipment, and the technology required to serve these customers.
A cornerstone of company growth was innovation and merchandising that other companies copied. There has always been a new product development priority in the business, a trait that supports the company’s growth and the success of the company’s customers.
When the company landed major national programs in the retail hardware space, the company again needed more space & decided to build more square footage than we’d ever imagine needing. In 1986 the company moved to the company’s current location and has since rented three other warehouses nearby to hold the company’s expanded inventory & machinery.
Ray Howard died in 2007, and left the company’s current President & two children in place to continue the business he built. A longtime Rotarian, his legacy is built on a very simple premise: treat the company’s customers, suppliers and employees well, to ensure a healthy organization.
In 2014 the company launched a very successful line of 24 Key Shapes™ designs that are the first full-line of brightly designed shaped house keys, landing the company back into the retail hardware space and growing the company’s locksmith business. The line has expanded to include more than 45 designs, including our newer Forged Keys.
In 2017 the company’s longest-term employee retired, having served the business for 35 years. Today, a good half of the employees have been with the company for more than 20 years, and a quarter under 10 years due to business growth, and minimal attrition.
Today we are looking at a new space to streamline our logistics and accommodate our growth.