Products Made in San Diego
San Diego Businesses That Made It Big
WD-40--In 1953, a start up San Diego company, Rocket Chemical Company, sought to come up with an anti-rust product and degreaser for the aerospace industry. The chemist, Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion - a task that is done by displacing water. Norm's persistence paid off when he perfected the formula on his 40th try. WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt.
The lab worker's never say die attitude and multiple attempts to find the right solution reaped financial success for the company. The product was so successful that it went beyond commercial use and onto retail shelves in 1958. By 1969, the product was officially renamed WD-40 (Water Displacement-40). It sold and still sells like a well-greased machine. Another popular degreaser, Lava Soap, was bought out by WD-40. Some have thought that because Lava Soap is listed under WD-40 that it too is a San Diego invention, but it is not. Lava Soap was invented in St. Louis, Missouri.
Folex--We think this stuff is magic! Spray it on and stains are gone. Sometimes it seems we are the only ones who know about this product. Imagine the horror of having the cat launch onto one's lap while one is reclining on a white sofa with glass of red wine. Think disaster. Walls, sofa, beige carpet all sprayed with the mighty red grape. With FOLEX to the rescue, it was all good and the cat survived to live another day. The stains never showed their faces again.
We honestly cannot explain the chemical properties of the stuff. We just swear by it. Look for it. In San Diego, Lowe's, Ace, and Target carry it. It isn't in a fancy bottle. You'll never see commercials for it. It beats all the other major name products out there. And best of all, Folex is non-toxic.
Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill--Rubio's claims to be the first restaurant to bring fish tacos to a hungry world. As the story goes, a bunch of San Diego guys would head to Baja California, Mexico every year and kick it on the beach. One fateful year, Ralph Rubio took the bait on some advertised fish tacos. He fell for 'em hook, line and sinker. Ralph brought the idea back to San Diego and in 1983, he opened up a fish taco stand in Mission Beach. Old San Diegans know that this was once an old Orange Julius.
In San Diego, we still call it "Rubio's", but now the corporate name is Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill. Although not as big as McDonald's, they have still done very well for themselves. Currently there are over 180 locations worldwide. They figure they've sold about 50 million fish tacos - not bad for a guy who took a chance on putting fried fish in a corn tortilla.
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps All-One!--This Made in San Diego product is all about cleaning your face and your body with natural ingredients and a bit of philosophy. In fact, this company is celebrating its 60th year in business in America and its 150 years of making soap as a family.
Dr. Emanuel Bronner came from a long line of certified soap makers from Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1929 and brought his beautiful mind with him. Dr. Bronner continued his family's passion for soap making and began tinkering with formulas back in Los Angeles in the 1950's. Soon folks were buying the stuff.
In the 1960s, Dr. Bronner moved the bottling and shipping plant to Escondido, CA. It was a good move because the hippie movement of the 1960s gravitated toward the ecological and natural attributes of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap All-One! Dr. Bronner's soap was a far cry from their parents' Dial Soap!
Today, you can find Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps All-One! in most health food stores as well as Amazon.com. The bar soaps and liquid soaps come in the following delightful scents: Lavender, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Almond, and Baby-Mild.
Qualcomm --
Quick. Look on the back of your cell phone and look for the tiny letter that says Qualcomm-CDMA. San Diego was the birthplace of Qualcomm, one of the largest developers of cell phone technology and wireless cellular standards in the world.
Qualcomm was founded in 1985 in San Diego by UC San Diego Professor Irwin Jacobs, Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, AJ Read, Klein Gilhousern, Andrew Viterbi and Harvey White.
Qualcomm then began to manufacture CDMA cell phones, base stations, and chips. Qualcomm sold its base station business to Ericsson and its cell phone manufacturing to Kyocera, and has focused on developing and licensing wireless technologies. We appreciate that the company and its founders have been very generous in their philanthropic giving in San Diego and their dollars.
Jazzercise--Judi Sheppard Missett thought up the Jazzercise program while teaching traditional jazz dance classes in Illinois. She headed out west to start her new fitness program in Carlsbad, California.
Knowing that she could not teach all the courses herself, she trained and certified Jazzercise instructors. The exercise movement that began in Carlsbad has now grown to 7,200 certified Jazzercise instructors worldwide.
Sheppard Missett basically franchised Jazzercise to thousands of eager people who were ready and able to preach that fitness can be fun. She also envisioned classes that could be set up in the communities where people live such as church basements, recreation centers, and even grade school gymnasiums, which decreased the cost of operation for both the instructors and the participants. Genuis!
Kashi-The popular breakfast cereal, Kashi, was founded in San Diego in 1984 by Philip and Gayle Tauber. The company's name was chosen by combining "kashrut" (kosher) with "Kushi" the last name of Michio and Aveline Kushi, credited with bringing the modern macrobiotic diet to the United States. You have probably seen many products with the Kashi name and had no idea it came from San Diego.
In 2000, Kashi was purchased by cereal giant, the Kellogg Company, in 2000 but is still operated as an independent business in La Jolla. Although the expansion of their product line was probably influenced by Kellog, Kashi's products still contain their proprietary blend of seven whole grains (hard red winter wheat, oats, rye, barley, triticale, long grain brown rice, buckwheat), sesame seeds, and no artificial ingredients.
Callaway Golf--The Callaway Golf Company was founded by former Burlington Industries textile president, Ely R. Callaway, Jr. He became very successful in the textile industry and liked the game of golf. At games, Callaway would use clubs by Hickory Sticks. As Hickory Sticks started running low on funds, they sought investors to help the company and approached Callaway. At the time, Mr. Callaway had just sold his vineyards (in Temecula) for a $9 million profit. In 1983, he became president and moved his new golf club company to Carlsbad where he sold his company's golf clubs out of his Cadillac.
In 1986, Callaway hired a billiard cue designer, Richard C. Helmstetter, as a consultant. With his help, the company developed the original Big Bertha driver using a large-volume steel club head. The Big Bertha basically put Callaway Golf on the map for professional and amateur golfers. None other than San Diego's own Phil Mickelson uses Callaway golf clubs.
Sadly, in 2001, Mr. Callaway died of pancreatic cancer. However, Callaway Golf continues to be a dominant player in the world of golf balls, golf clubs, and golf apparel. Mr. Callaway came a long way from selling golf clubs out of his Cadillac!
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