Photowalking in a Warehouse District

Most people take pictures of nature.

I like to take walks through my local community to see what is there. For example I recently had cause to visit 300 West in South Salt Lake; so I took time to photograph some of the businesses lining the street.

Let me know if you think that this is worthwhile, of if pictures of businesses is not deserving of space on HIVE.

The pictures are about things that we find in cities and not business recommends. In the project I take pictures of businesses then research who owns the business.

I find that labeling pictures takes for ever.

One of the goals of the Community Color was to research who owned what in the local community.

I snapped the photo above of the facade of a manufacturing facility on 300 West in Salt Lake City. The building has a sign reading "Engineering Technology Corp."

I discovered that they make filament winding systems. This is a good thing as we don't want filaments to be unwound.

They were founded in 1962 and aquired by a company called "Zoltek" which was a leader in manufacturing carbon fibers. This sounds fun because people use carbon fibers in bikes and outdoor equipment.

In 2013 Zoltek merged with its primary competitor which was "Toray Industries" base in Japan.

Toray is one of that impossibly large conglomerates with hundreds of subsidiaries.

Toray produces textiles and materials used in manufacturing. I suspect that I have encountered multiple products which include their materials; however, I was unfamiliar with the brands sold by the group.

Researching this history highlighted some of the problems that the world faces in writing corporate histories.

Toray is a Japanese firm; so the official names of its subsidiaries will all be in Japanese. The company has Latin based names for many of its subsidiaries and brands.

It appears that, in some cases, Toray changes the name of the companies it acquires.

When this happens the merger history of the acquired companies disappear.

I listed some of the names for the brands and subsidiaries of Toray on Internet Rivers. I hope that the page gives some indication about the size of the firm.

The Crossville Picture

I snapped a photo of Crossvile Studios.

Their merger chain was much cleaner. This conglomerate started by mining Coal and Ice.

Yes, before refrigerators, companies developed interesting systems to freeze ice in the winter and distribute it in the summer.

The company diversified into heating oil, servicing railroads, asphault paving and eventually stone tiles and slabs for countertops and home decor.

Corporate Image Photo

Corporate Image is a large scale printer that makes signs and vehicle wraps for business. It appears that the company has had a single ownder for 30 years.

Reliable Parts

Reliable Parts is a hardware store offering parts for appliances. The company was founded in 1933 and grew slowly over the decades. It was sucked up by a private equity firm called "Svoboda Capital." Svoboda is accumulating a portfolio of midrange companies. I didn't find the portfolio particularly interesting.

Jorgenson Industrial

Jorgenson Industrial is a locally owned company. They manufacture metal shelving and lockers used in school rooms and businesses. The site even has a collection of quaint lockers from the past.