About Us
In 2007, we celebrated our 50th Anniversary, posting record sales, developing more ground-breaking products, while maintaining our "Superior Performance, Rapid Turn-Around" reputation. We continue to provide same-day shipping for most in-stock products and have a maximum ship time of 3 weeks, even on the most difficult orders.
It's been an interesting journey from 1957 to 2007. It all began in ...
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The Basement Magnolia Plastics, Inc. actually began in 1957 in the basement of Don and Jo Wells' home in what is now considered the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia. The initial years were difficult as Don and Jo tried to grow the business as well as raise their four children. Don spent his time developing, manufacturing, and selling product, while Jo did the shipping and bookkeeping. Receipts for the first year were about $700, while expenses were many times higher. |
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The Bakery
In 1958, the company picked up its first large customer, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin, and needed to expand its production capability. The company rented an old bakery in Roswell, Georgia, across from a closed textile mill, and hired its first, full-time employee, Johnny Clark. Unlike Don and Jo, Johnny took home a regular paycheck.
At the time, Magnolia was making epoxies which were being used in the construction of spacecraft, some of which went to the Moon, Outer Planets, and beyond. Despite this, Johnny, being a Fundamentalist Baptist Lay Preacher, refused to believe the Earth was not flat since the Bible makes reference to the "four corners of the Earth." Johnny held this belief until the day he died. Regardless, Magnolia continued to be a trusted vendor to the aerospace industry.
Many years ago, the old Magnolia space was converted into a bailbond office and the mill replaced by a modern jail.
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The Move to Chamblee The company began to grow as its reputation for customer service, reasonable prices, and high-quality innovative products spread. In 1959, Magnolia moved to Chamblee, Georgia and built a 3,000 square foot facility on a two-lane, dirt road called Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. At the time, the only other sign of life along the road was a drive-in movie theater. It was from this facility that Magnolia really began to grow in customers, products, employees, and markets. |
The Name "Magnolia"
The name Magnolia originated while Don was employed by Shell Chemical as a Chemical Engineer. As with any R&D function, not every product developed reaches market. Sometimes the product does not reach company standards for performance. Sometimes the actual sales potential, even for very fine products, is below the company's profitability threshold.
The Shell engineers invented a fictional company they named "Magnolia" to produce and market products in the latter situation. When they would develop a great product which they knew would never make it to market, they would say "Here's another one for Magnolia!"
When Don and Jo started their company, they decided to call it "Magnolia" since their profitability threshold was much smaller than Shell's. The name "Plastics" was chosen because epoxy, at its core, is a plastic product.
Founder Don Wells Before Magnolia - A Brief Bio
Don was born in Wilton, Alabama in 1921, in the family's residence located about 30 yards from the railroad track where Don's father earned his living as a Conductor on the Birmingham to Mobile run for the Southern Pacific Railway. The house did not have indoor plumbing or electricity.
At age 2, Don contracted Polio and had 23 operations over the next 2 years in an attempt to counteract the crippling effects of the disease. Although the doctors did the best they could, Don walked with a limp from that point on until he was confined to a wheelchair in his early 80's.
| Don earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University in Alabama in 1943 where he was a member of the academic honor societies, Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. After graduation, he was employed by Monsanto as a Chemical Engineer performing classified work under contract for the War Department. During this time, he was interviewed by Robert Oppenheimer and invited to work on a another classified project later identified as the "Manhattan Project." Don would have gone, but his new bride, Jo, did not want to move to Oak Ridge, Tennessee or Los Alamos, New Mexico. |
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In 1947, Don joined Shell Chemical where he became a Reseach Chemist in the new field of epoxy chemistry. He quickly rose through the ranks and was eventually based in the New York City headquarters. In 1953, Shell moved Don to Atlanta and placed him in Sales. In 1957, Shell wanted to move him either back to New York or to London to become a Vice-President. Having been raised in the South themselves, Don and Jo decided they preferred Atlanta as a place to raise their four children. Don left Shell and started Magnolia Plastics, Inc. so that he and his family could remain in Atlanta.
Magnolia Today
| Today, the two-lane dirt road on which Magnolia's main facility sits is a 5 lane road carrying more than 50,000 cars per day. Magnolia is now surrounded by shopping, restaurants, and car dealerships, and the physical facility has grown more than tenfold. We are currently looking for another 100,000 square feet in the metro Atlanta area for local expansion, as well as sites in the Western US. Due to our growing international presence, we are also considering facilities in Europe, Asia, and South America. |
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Magnolia has custom formulated more than 2,000 products over the years and currently sells about 700 of these to a very diverse customer base including companies involved in aerospace, the manufacture and repair of fixed and rotary wing aircraft for commercial, general and military aviation, energy, automotive, missiles and launch vehicles, defense, transportation, infrastructure, electronics, marine, communications, construction, recreation, and more.
More than 100 of the products offered by Magnolia are QPL'd and meet or exceed the specifications of a number of companies. Where appropriate, Magnolia products are also tested by Underwriters' Laboratories. Our products are used by every major commercial or general aviation aircraft manufacturer worldwide.
Magnolia not only provides products under our own name, we also provide an increasing number of products to the market through private-labeling. Magnolia also provides custom packaging for customers to meet their diverse end-use needs.
Thanks to our success, every year Magnolia employees are allowed to direct corporate contributions to a number of different charitable organizations; such as, Angel Flight of Georgia, the American Cancer Society, and Save the Children. Magnolia also participates in selected research efforts ongoing in various colleges and universities.
Currently, the day-to-day management of Magnolia is performed by Don's son, Rick Wells. Rick has worked on and off in Magnolia in since he was 12 years old and has performed every position in the company; some better than others. After receiving his BS degree from Auburn University, Rick joined the U.S. military and spent 4 years on active duty, including service in Southeast Asia. Rick also has graduate degrees from Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, several professional designations, and has started and operated 3 successful businesses prior to his assuming his position at Magnolia. Rick earned his private pilot certificate in 2004 and through 2008 had flown more than 100 Angel Flight missions; both medical and disaster relief.
In 1997, Rick began to take a more active role in Magnolia and in 2003 bought controlling interest. Since 2003, Magnolia has experienced extraordinary growth in both sales and customer base; expanding deeper not only into North America, but also Europe, South America, and Asia.
Magnolia remains a closely-held, private, family-owned company.