As Discovery Plastics grew, the company continued to make inroads into the Plexiglas display market. Around the same time as the initial Hewlett Packard order, Pacific NW Bell (the phone company) awarded DP an order for 13,000 custom point-of-purchase signholder displays.

The following year, HP asked Discovery to design and develop secure countertop displays for its 41C series handheld calculators. The firm came up with designs which utilized bronze-tinted transparent acrylic. Discovery Plastics manufactured these and other Hewlett Packard dealer accessories for several years.

Other large accounts soon followed: White Stag, Jantzen, GranTree Furniture, eb5 Cosmetics, Nail-Magic and more. By 1984, Apple Computer had joined the ranks of Discovery Plastics' top customers.

Eventually, store fixtures and custom displays became the company's largest market segment: 92% of total sales by 1988.

As its ready-made display and store fixture line also grew, Discovery Plastics eventually produced over 525 types of acrylic fixtures (in stock for immediate shipment) published in its annual printed catalog. Sales went national as Discovery sold its products through over 200 store-fixturing distributors across America.

In 1986, Discovery Plastics produced its first four-color brochure. Titled 'Enlightened Ideas In Acrylic Displays', the literature showcased the company's design and manufacturing capabilities in the custom display and point-of-purchase field. Sales (and profits) continued to grow at a rapid pace. The 12 page brochure cost only $2,300 to design and print but returned $67,000 worth of net profit from new orders in an 18 month period.

The company also began to design injection-molded components to replace certain fabricated acrylic parts, lowering production costs, improving quality and permitting more design versatility.

Injection-molded shoe displays - produced on molds commissioned by Discovery Plastics and subcontrated to Northwest firms - were economical enough to allow DP to successfully compete against imported Asian-fabricated plastic shoe shelves, keeping jobs in the USA. Other molded subassemblies were used to create new and novel display fixtures, resulting in increased demand and additional employment within the company.

Over the years, Discovery Plastics developed many technical, product and process innovations. The company was the first commercial user of the clear acrylic Acryl-Hinge:

The company also used extruded high-impact Plexiglas DR acrylic for all of its slatwall attachment hardware. Discovery was a pioneer in the use of Acrylite FF plastic for display products and was an early adapter of Forrest No-Melt saw blades in its manufacturing operation. Discovery purchased one of the first edge-finishing machines from Edge Finisher Corp. in he mid-1980s. The company also developed a number of unique designs in jewelry displays.

By 1985, Discovery's net profit and ROTA (Return on Total Assets) were solidly in the upper quartile of the plastics fabrication industry. Specifically, by 1985, Discovery Plastics' NPBT (Net Profit Before Taxes) was almost 3 times the median of other plastic distributor/fabricators. In 1984, Discovery Plastics' ROTA was 19.5% - almost 4 times the median of other plastic distributor/fabricators. Discovery's RONA (Return On Net Assets - aka: Return On Investment) was just over 53% for the year.

The company's goal was to increase sales without giving up profit; we targeted a gross profit of 35-40%, which we usually met each year. In 1987, our gross profit was 38.9%. Over an 11-year period, Discovery Plastics' sales had grown at a rate of over 44% per year:

We were able to grow at a fast rate because our quest for high-margin (i.e. - very profitable) work gave us much of the cash flow necessary to underwrite such growth.

In late 1989, Discovery Plastics, Inc. was sold to a to RHC/Spacemaster Corporation, a large ($220 million) store fixture conglomerate. In 11 years, DP had grown from a small storefront operation with 3 employees to the largest producer of acrylic store fixtures and displays in North America with over 70 employees.

At their request, Joe Sherlock and John Koegler retained no financial interest in nor managerial control of Discovery Plastics. After the sale was completed, both left the firm to pursue other individual business interests.

During their time running Discovery Plastics, Joe & John met and employed many talented people. Some stayed with the firm. Others moved on to new endeavors. The contributions from exceptional people strengthened the company and made it possible to grow rapidly without losing control of products, processes or Discovery's reputation for high quality and fast customer service.

Several sources have indicated that Discovery Plastics' sales peaked in the late 1990s and, at one point, the division employed over 120. But management problems, market changes and the departure of key executives at the parent company threw a monkey wrench into the smooth-running machine that was once DP.

In early 2003, RHC/Spacemaster Corporation went bankrupt and was soon forced by its creditors into a Chapter 7 liquidation. As a result of the parent company's insolvency, Discovery Plastics closed its doors forever after 30 years of operation. (posted 4/7/12)

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