The lure of larger plant space under a favorable lease attracted businesses to relocate to Holyoke. The story of one of these companies, which enjoyed a long relationship with various plant spaces, was the Robert Fiber Box Company.
The Robert Fiber Box Company was founded by father and son, Louis T. and Edward O. Robert, in 1929. The company was located at 33 Rose Place in Springfield. The business was growing, and it would soon need a larger factory to produce its main product, corrugated boxes. The company had 10 employees at the time.
When the company started in 1929 in Springfield, another concern was also getting off the ground. It was the John H. Breck Inc., a notable supplier of shampoos and beauty products. It was the Robert Fibre Box Company that provided the shipping cartons for the first delivery of Breck products to its first customer.
In 1935, an opportunity arose when additional space was available in the Number 2 division of White and Wyckoff Manufacturing Company. Robert Fiber Box was already using some of the mill’s space, having moved some equipment and was storing inventory there. The company became fully operational at the Holyoke location on May 9, 1935.
In 1938, the company relocated to the former Norman Paper Company building at 2 Appleton Street. The company needed to move, as Springfield Photo Mount Company had purchased the Number 2 division mill from White and Wyckoff and intended to use the space. Robert Fibre Box Company had 6,000 square feet of space at its new location.
Louis Robert, the company co-owner and founder, died in 1943. His son Edward Robert was now the principal of the company.
The company was sold to Frederick Czukiewicz in the mid-1960s. In July 1970, the company moved to a larger facility at 76 Ely Street at the corner of West Street. The facility had 30,000 square feet of floor space, and the company employed 25 workers.
In addition to corrugated boxes, the company produced pads, creased sheets, and die cuts. The company planned to expand to produce assembled partitions and laminated blocks.
The company moved twice more in the 1970s, first to 120 Front Street and then to 580 Main Street in 1977.
In 1979, the company announced that it would move to the new Northampton, Massachusetts, Industrial Park. In 1981, the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency approved a $550,000 tax-exempt, low-interest bond to facilitate the construction of the new 36,000-square-foot building and the relocation of the business. The building was completed in 1981, and Robert Fiber Box moved after 46 years of operating in Holyoke.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.
Hampden County Registry of Deeds, Springfield, Massachusetts
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