The HIstory of Barry E. Walter Senior Company

Domestic Engineering Magazine Article - January 1955

Domestic Engineering Magazine Article - January 1955

Most family businesses have a story

 Ours starts with an incredibly talented man and a desire to serve others.

My grandfather, Lauren D. Walter, worked for several plumbing supply houses in the Los Angeles area after serving in the navy as a machinist during World War II. While manning the counter at Hirsch Pipe and Supply in the early 50s, he recognized the struggle of the plumbing professional to identify the concealed valves that needed to be replaced. To save them time, he developed the first stem guide.

After moving on to P&M Mfg., he saw the need for making parts that were no longer available. He convinced his boss to provide an engine lathe for him. When a plumber would bring in a part that they couldn’t supply, he would take it to his garage at home and he would duplicate the part from that sample. He would make a part for the plumber and several for P&M’s stock; He would hang on to the original stem unit the plumber gave him for his reference sample to make again when needed. As he added to his repertoire of completed jobs, the size of the samples that he collected grew. Lauren didn’t just ask for the stems and stem units, he asked for the valve bodies that were torn out of walls to use for testing the parts. Years of gathering samples garnered a virtual museum of plumbing parts and fixtures.

This “side job” was soon also done by the whole family as part of their chores. Over time, my grandfather left P&M and started making replacement plumbing parts full time.

Domestic Engineering Magazine - January 1955

​My father, Barry Sr., grew up working in his father’s business; just like most sons, he said he was never going to work for his father. After years of working for the phone company, he left to work for his father. Senior started working on the machines and eventually worked into more management positions.

My grandfather was incredibly talented
...when it came to building, design, and engineering

There was no operation that he couldn’t automate or make more efficient by standardizing the operation. Indexed tables and air-fed slides; as a small boy, it was amazing to watch. Grandfather also knew instinctively the areas in the market that needed to be filled and how to best serve his customers. What he lacked was the business acumen.

Over time, he took on partner after partner. After his retirement and selling the majority of the company to his last partner, the company closed its doors.

I was in high school at the time. My brother Lauren was 5 years younger than I and my mother was pregnant with my brother Franklin. I remember talking to my father about what he was going to do as he took me to school. I remember being really worried about the situation, but I also remember my father’s words and what he believed to be his future. He was going to buy the assets of the company.

He wasn’t as interested in the machinery or the inventory; he wanted those samples that had been collected over the 35 years of my grandfather’s time identifying and machining parts. He saw the future of machining in CNC equipment; not the screw machines or other automatic machines, but computer machines that could hold tighter tolerances and run unattended.

My father and my mother took a second mortgage out on their house and borrowed money to buy the assets of the company. Barry E. Walter, Sr. Co. was born. Senior started small, vowed to not take on partners and strove to be a good steward by managing the growth of the company.

Just like my grandfather, my father possesses the same foundational skills of entrepreneurship, design, engineering, and building. He has provided the foresight to see the need for replacement ceramic units to provide our customers with these hard-to-find replacements. Over the years, he too has built machines to automate the jobs that need to be done; machines like rotary tables with induction heating elements to solder retainers on stems. He also possessed the shrewd business skills that my grandfather lacked.

Just like my father before me, I also said that I would never work for my father. After I graduated college, I worked in my field of study but quickly found out that it wasn’t something I enjoyed. When I was working 2 full-time jobs, the reasoning I used to not work for my father – working a lot of hours – seemed insensible.

I went to work for my parents in 1994. I originally protested about moving back to the Los Angeles area after being away from it, but my parents had already decided to move to Colorado – the cost of doing business in CA proving to be onerous.

I went to work for the company, originally running our multi-spindle screw machines. I too, over time, worked my way into my former management position of COO, to the position I hold now; CEO. My brother Lauren also followed me over time and also after working for years on the machines, learning part knowledge, and gathering the operational skills that we both lead the company with now.

Entrepreneurship, building, engineering, designing, frugality, stewardship, managed growth. These make up the foundation of what this company has been built on.

It is a large part of why we are still here and still strong thirty+ years later. My parents’ four boys are now working in the business. Lauren, Franklin, Nathaniel, and I know the skill set, drive, determination, and principles of what we do have gotten us here. It is our vision to take this foundation of what got us here and build on that with the leadership that is needed to grow and strengthen us going forward.

It is our plan, with our mission and core values in place, to better engage with our customers and grow our relationships. Making superior quality plumbing parts here in America matters. Supporting small businesses is vital. Serving our customers and team members makes a positive impact. As we continue to partner with you, our customers, we hope that you feel the same as we do.

​-Barry Walter, Jr, CEO