Carron Net Company
While driving through Two Rivers recently, you may have noticed that the Carron Net Company building on 17th and Monroe Streets was repainted. Now in its fourth generation of family management, Carron Net continues to produce high quality netting products.
More than 80 years ago, net making began in the home of Norman E. Carron and his father, Edward W. Carron, located at 1103 Harbor Street in Two Rivers. In addition to locally selling sucker dip and smelt nets, Norman traveled to Green Bay and Milwaukee to sell nets to some of the leading hardware companies of the time.
In 1935, their first price list was printed and included the following nets: basketball, volleyball, tennis, ice hockey goals, golf practice, and fishing – these catalogues were sent to schools, hardware and some sporting goods stores.
In 1940, Norman wrote to the defense department seeking to make nets for the military. Carron Net received its first invitation to bid on 10,000 camouflage nets for the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, in December 1941. To fill this order, Norman rented a small factory, bought industrial sewing machines, and hired six employees.
Less than six months later, Carron Net was asked by the Marine Corps to make 22,000 camouflage nets. To meet this order, Norman rented the former Ford garage on Washington Street in Two Rivers and hired more employees. During World War II, Carron Net also made thousands of barrage balloon nets and produced fish nets for the lend-lease war program.
After the war, Norman was approached by a local trucking firm, inquiring if he wanted to buy a fire-damaged building at the corner of 17th and Monroe Streets. Wanting to permanently establish roots for the Carron Net Company, Norman purchased the building and it was cleaned and repaired.
A comprehensive catalogue was distributed nationwide in 1945 containing a wide variety of sports nets. Around this time, a poll taken by Sporting Goods Dealer magazine reported that Carron Net sports nets were requested by 60% of the nation’s sporting goods dealers.
Additions to the downtown plant were built in 1948, 1953, 1960, and 1967. Land was acquired at 27th and Williams Streets in 1976 to build a 22,500 square foot building where backstop nets for major league baseball parks were produced for teams including the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs.
Business continued to expand during the 1970s as tennis became very popular. Employment doubled during this time and products were being exported overseas.
Additional work for the government began in 1984, when Carron Net landed an order for $102,000 worth of gill nets. The following year, an order for military cargo nets was secured.
Norman Carron was nominated for the prestigious National Sporting Goods Association Hall of Fame in 1991 and was inducted on July 16, 1991. Line production safety nets used in the back of pallet racks and under conveyor systems began production in the early 1990s.
The expanding market for sports nets, custom-made nets and nets for industrial uses allows Carron Net to remain a leader in the industry today. For over 80 years, Carron Net has manufactured netting merchandise of the highest quality in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
