RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AT THE HEART
Newly acquired Cobra Anchors has long held innovation as vital to its success. Torque Magazine speaks with Cobra President Richard Labelle.
COBRA ANCHORS FIXATIONS
Since 1973 Despite global challenges, Cobra Anchors has seen steady growth across its markets.
WallDriller plus, FlipToggle and TripleGrip are some of the latest innovations from Cobra Anchors, a five decade-plus company that puts R&D at the core of its business to give it a competitive edge. These newest products combine advanced materials with cutting-edge design to – crucially – enhance performance and ease of use for its customers.
“Research and development are at the heart of Cobra Anchors,” Cobra Anchors President Richard Labelle tells Torque Magazine. “We prioritise innovation to stay ahead in a competitive market. Our dedicated team ensures that we not only meet but exceed industry standards, continuously bringing new solutions that address our customers’ needs.”
FIVE DECADES, 22 PATENTS AND THOUSANDS OF RETAIL PARTNERS
Cobra hit a significant milestone last year when it celebrated its 50th anniversary. Those decades have seen it develop more than 22 worldwide patented products and make investments to secure its position: “Key achievements include pioneering on the hollow wall anchors category, the acquisition of two state-of-the-art plants located in Montreal, Canada, and Temple, Pennsylvania as well as a distribution centre in Gonesse, France. Cobra serves more than 14,000 retail stores across the world, which has set benchmarks in the industry and reinforced our reputation as a leader in fastening solutions.”
The additional manufacturing plants have helped Cobra swerve some of the supply chain difficulties which have affected other businesses, the firm explains: “Our manufacturing plants in Canada and the US have been operational for several years. These facilities have been instrumental in ensuring consistent product availability and flexibility in responding to market demands, especially during challenging times in global supply chains.”
Speaking more broadly, Cobra has seen plenty of industry changes over the last 51 years, with recent developments being technology-driven, the firm says: “Over the decades, technological advancements and shifts in consumer preferences have profoundly influenced our industry. We’ve adapted by integrating automation and digital technologies into our manufacturing processes, enabling us to deliver products more efficiently and sustainably.”
SECURING FUTURE BUSINESS
At present, business at Cobra Anchors is thriving, Richard Labelle tells Torque Magazine: “Despite global challenges, we’ve seen steady growth across our markets, driven by strong demand for our innovative products and our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.”
Cobra’s future plans have Europe in its sights: “In the near future, Cobra Anchors is focused on expanding our presence in Europe. We’re also investing in further enhancing our product lines and manufacturing capabilities to meet growing global demand while maintaining our commitment to innovation and quality.
“At Cobra Anchors, our success is driven by our dedicated team, innovative spirit, and solid commitment to our customers. We’re excited about the future and look forward to continuing to deliver superior products and solutions that redefine industry standards.”
ACQUISITION UPDATE
This August, PrimeSource Brands – a North American provider of specialty branded residential building products backed by Clearlake Capital Group – revealed it had acquired Cobra Anchors. The move is PrimeSource Brands’ fifth acquisition since partnering with Clearlake in December 2020.
Operating a national footprint with 56 distribution centres, PrimeSource Brands is a link in the residential building products supply chain, serving as the ‘one-stop-shop’ for speciality building products ranging from construction fasteners and building materials to home hardware. PrimeSource Brands owns a portfolio of branded products including Grip-Rite, Pro-Twist, Top Knobs, Hardware Resources, Atlas Homewares, North Pointe Cabinets and Wolf Home Products among others across several categories including construction fasteners, cabinets and cabinet hardware, lighting and plumbing, and outdoor building materials. PrimeSource Brands delivers these products daily across multiple channels including national home improvement retailers, lumberyards, building products dealers and showrooms.
“We are thrilled to add Cobra to the PrimeSource portfolio,” said Tom Koos, CEO of PrimeSource. “The Cobra team has built a terrific catalogue of proprietary products that fits well with our existing platform. Along with PrimeSource Building Products, Dimora Brands, Nationwide, Wolf and Axxis, Cobra continues our efforts to build the branded specialty building products platform with the largest sales and service capabilities in the industry. We believe our depth of catalogue combined with our customer reach gives us an advantage, and we are confident that our increased national scale will enable us to grow this business at an accelerated pace.”
José E. Feliciano, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and Colin Leonard, Partner, of Clearlake, added: “In partnership with the PrimeSource Brands team, we continue to deploy our O.P.S. playbook to capitalise on the Company’s footprint and logistics network and channel reach by expanding the branded product portfolio across residential building product applications. We look forward to continuing our exciting growth trajectory with both organic and acquisition initiatives going forward.”
