Ed Lowe

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Edward 'Ed' Lowe (July 10, 1920 - October 4, 1995) was an American businessman and entrepreneur, noted for the invention of cat litter.^[1] The Small Business School described him as "building a huge business from nothing"^[2], and cite him as a textbook example of an individual who "created a product, brought it to marketplace, invented an industry and sold his business for millions".^[3] By the time of his death, his company was worth half a billion dollars.^[4]

Contents 1 Background 2 Invention of Kitty Litter 3 His career 4 Later years and death 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Background

Edward Lowe was born on July 10, 1920 in Saint Paul, Minnesota to Lulu and Henry E. Lowe^[5]. His family moved to Cassopolis, Michigan, where he attended high school at Ross Beatty Junior/Senior High School.

He was in the Navy from 1941 to 1945. After he left the Navy, he worked for his father who sold industrial absorbents.

Lowe was married twice. He divorced his first wife in 1974, and married Darlene, an interior designer, who following his death took over as chair of the Edward Lowe Foundation.^[6] Lowe left behind four children and twelve grandchildren.^[4]

[edit] Invention of Kitty Litter

Before Lowe's invention, people kept their cats outside, using ashes, dirt or sand as cat litter when it was necessary to keep them inside. One day in January 1947, Kaye Draper, Edward Lowe's neighbor in Cassopolis, Michigan, came to him asking for some sand to use as cat litter. Her sand pile was frozen so she had been using ashes but they tracked all over her house. Instead of sand, Lowe gave her some clay called Fuller's Earth, a set of clay minerals capable of absorbing their weight in water. She found it worked far better than sand or ashes.^[7]

[edit] His career

In 1947, Lowe decided to sell the clay. He packaged it in 5 lb bags and called it "Kitty Litter". Then he went to a local pet store and asked them to sell it for 69 cents. The store owner refused, saying that it would not sell because sand was so much cheaper. Lowe told him to give it away free until people were willing to pay for it. Kitty Litter was a success. Lowe drove around the country selling Kitty Litter. He even cleaned boxes at cat shows so he could get a booth to demonstrate his product. He founded Edward Lowe Industries and created Tidy Cat kitty litter in 1964. In the early 1980s he almost lost his market to Clorox, but by 1990 Edward Lowe Industries was the top producer of cat litter.^[5]

In Lowe's later years, he decided the best way for his business to continue after his death was to hand the running over to a management team funded by venture capitalists from New York and Chicago. The sale went through in 1990, with the company being renamed to the Golden Cat Corporation; Lowe remained as an equity holder and director.^[8] The sale was later estimated by the New York Times as being $200 million dollars.^[4] Following his death, the group sold the successful company to Ralston Purina.^[2]

[edit] Later years and death

In 1988, Lowe was inducted into the Babson College Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs. He also started an academy to teach entrepreneurial skills in 1990. Lowe died on October 4, 1995 in Sarasota, Florida at age 75 from "complications from surgery for cerebral hemorrhage".^[4] He left behind the Edward Lowe Foundation, which set up a digital library to help people start up small businesses.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Edward Lowe Foundation
• Ed Lowe page from the Small Business School - includes resources and show transcript
• Entrepeneurs as Heroes - tribute to Lowe from his wife