Menomonee Falls-based Bradley Corp., a manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, restroom accessories and emergency equipment, is now looking for a site to build a new 177,000 square foot production facility in the Milwaukee area. The company is now looking at three different properties – one of them is in the Germantown Building Park. The company declined to disclose the other two locations it is considering.
The new building will replace an approximate 150,000 square foot facility that Bradley now leases in the city of Milwaukee, said Jon Dommisse, the company’s director of marketing and product development. The company is considering properties between metro Milwaukee and the Washington County corridor, he said.
“We’re looking for more flexibility and a better layout, and the ability to do more flexible, cellular manufacturing,” Dommisse said.
Bradley makes its commercial washroom accessory products such as mirrors, grab bars, tissue and towel dispensers in high grade stainless finishes in the Milwaukee facility. The new plant may expand those capabilities, Dommisse said.
The Milwaukee plant has about 100 employees, and all will be retained when the company completes its new factory.
“And we’ll be increasing our employee county (there) as we continue to grow our business,” Dommisse said.
The new facility has been designed to be about 177,000 square feet, but it will be expandable up to 290,000 square feet.
Bradley’s sales are tied to the commercial, industrial and institutional real estate development and remodeling markets. That industry has been hard hit in recent years, but Bradley has managed to stay profitable and continue growth, Dommisse said.
“We’ve stayed in the black while the industry has been down approximately 17 to 20 percent annually for the last two to three years,” he said. “We’ve continued to grow the business in that time and we see that continuing. A lot of our competitors have moved things overseas. We’ve weathered the economic storm because we’re committed to made in America manufacturing.”
Bradley has not made its final determination where its building will be located but it will make a decision soon.
“We want all of the decisions to be made in the first quarter – we’re hoping to break ground in the first quarter,” Dommisse said. “We want to get the ball rolling. We have immediate needs.”
