Lakewood Lore

Bell cosmetics paid off in promised land

Bonne Bell Inc., maker of skincare, makeup and fragrance products marketed worldwide, was founded in Lakewood 62 years ago and is still headquartered here.

It all began when Jesse Grover (J.G.) Bell, a vigorous 37-year-old door-to-door cosmetics salesman from Salina, Kan., packed up his belongings, including wife Mamie and three children, in his Jordan machine and headed east in 1927. (That was back when people still called cars "machines.")

A bank advertisement enticed him here. It gave promise of a potentially vast market in this geographic area. The ad pointed out that half of all Americans lived within 500 miles of Cleveland.

The company name -- Bonne Bell -- originated back in 1916 when J.G. Bell discovered it while reading a fictional serial in the Saturday Evening Post. A Bonne Bell was the heroine of the story and, with each new weekly installment, J.G. and his wife grew to love the character.

Thus, when a second daughter was born to the couple, she was named Bonne, and so later was the company.

In Lakwood, J.G. first set up shop in a rented house at Detroit and Spring Garden, making products on a hot plate in the basement.

In 1936, he purchased a facial cleanser, Ten-O-Six, that had been conceived by a Cleveland research chemist. It won immediate public acceptance and was to become widely known as a beauty lotion for teenagers.

During the depression '30s, he assembled a crew of women to sell to beauty shops. In the '40s, as business increased and the line of offerings broadened to include products for women of all ages, he moved his manufacturing facilities and headquarters to 18519 Detroit Ave.

In 1959, son Jess A. Bell took over the reins from his father. The rugged, enterprising founder died in 1970 at the age of 80, and his wife passed away four years later.

Under the younger Bell's stewardship, the company expanded to embrace many outdoor-life products, such as heavy-duty moisturizers, lip protectors and sun blockers for joggers, hikers and skiers. It also started sponsoring sports events, including marathons and numerous charity races throughout the country.

Jess himself took up running in 1972, and since then his life has been a testimonial to the sport. It replaced a drinking problem and resulted in a complete turnabout for the executive. He was reunited with his family and his business again prospered. Currently, at 64, Jess runs 30 to 50 miles a week.

In 1965, new company offices replaced the old ones on Detroit, and they became a unique showpiece for Lakewood. Called Georgetown Row, they comprise a set of handsome colonial townhouses -- architectural reproductions of the Betsy Ross house, a federal mansion, a Fredricksburg apothecary, a 1790 Georgetown residence and a Pennsylvania Dutch homestead.

Then in 1976, a new 100,000-square-foot plant and warehouse complex was built on Crocker Road in Westlake. From its exterior, the facility resembles a large Kentucky horse farm. On its 18-acre premises are a two-mile running track, tennis and volleyball courts, a gymnasium and exercise rooms.

Today the company's 300 employees are benefitted by a "Be fit, Look Good" office philosophy. The company encourages their fitness by offering them incentive bonuses for miles run or walked, for losing weight and for giving up smoking.

The firm, now boasts sales of approximately $60 million a year, with distributors in 40 different countries.

It is still family-owned (one of only a few in the nation's cosmetic industry which are), with Jess as president and chief executive officer; his sister, Bonne Bell Eckert, for whom the firm was named, as chairman of the board; and her husband, William J. Eckert, as vice president of the international division.

Jess an his wife Julie have one daughter and three sons and live in Rocky River.

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post July 20, 1989. Reprinted with permission.

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