News
Update: December 14, 2005
Walker Foam Ramping Up
One week after “Blank Monday” – December 5, 2005, a day that will live in infamy – Gary Linden, Harold Walker, Joe Boyle and the staff at Walker Foam are working 24/7 to ramp up production in Wilmington, California and South China. At the Walker Foam plant in Wilmington, California, Gary Linden has stepped in as General Manager: “We are aware that there is a lot of rumor and worry in the surfing world and I want to assure everyone that within two months, there will be foam for everyone,” Linden said. “In the meantime, we are hard at work putting on extra shifts to bring local blank production up to 700 a week, and there are containers in China being loaded as we speak. Because we are so busy, we are asking people not to phone the factory. If you have an order or a question, please fax it to 310-513-1630 or email walkerfoaminc@cs.com.”
On “Blank Monday,” Gordon “Grubby” Clark announced that Clark Foam would immediately cease the production of polyurethane foam blanks to the market he had controlled for more than 40 years. Clark’s sudden “aloha” left a giant hole in the supply of blanks, estimated at anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 a year.
Walker Foam is all too aware that many of the suppliers of Clark Foam blanks have locked their doors and are not selling and Walker knows that a lot of lives and livelihoods are being effected: “We are asking people to order what they need,” Linden said. “And we will do what we can to take care of people in the short term. In the long term Joe Boyle, Harold’s son, is in South China right now, working with our partners to produce the highest quality polyurethane blanks and get them into containers. Help is on the way and we are asking people to cooperate in the meantime. Telephone calls are lost in the roar of this factory, so please send a fax with your needs: 310-513-1630 or use the email at walkerfoaminc@cs.com.”
|