John W. Bragg, the president of N.H. Bragg & Sons, smiles when he's asked the reasons for the success of his Bangor, Maine-based distributorship.

"We've always changed with the times. We may be slow to change at times," he emphasizes with a slight Yankee drawl. "But we change."

And the changes have worked out well for N.H. Bragg & Sons, one of the premier distributors in the Northeast, as it celebrates its 150th year in business, a remarkable feat by any standard. But even more remarkable is that N.H. Bragg & Sons is owned and managed by the same family that founded the business in 1854. John W. Bragg, representing the fifth generation of the Bragg family, runs the distributorship along with his cousin, Jon Eames, vice president and general manager, who represents the sixth generation.

This venerable company, which started out selling blacksmith tools, coal, anvils and carriage supplies, has kept up with an ever-changing marketplace, and today offers electronic catalogs, vendor-managed inventory, online ordering, and tool repair, and is expanding its lucrative front counter area. The company is in the process of unveiling a new logo, which hadn't been updated in more than 60 years. N.H. Bragg & Sons has, indeed, changed with the times.

In touting the success of N.H. Bragg & Sons, it's important to look back at the Bragg ancestors who set the stage for the preservation and growth of the company.

In 1837, Norris H. Bragg was a successful carriage ironer in the town of Dixmont, Maine, about 15 miles southwest of Bangor. A carriage ironer was an entrepreneur who supplied tires, bolts and other parts used to manufacture wagons and carriages, a prosperous business in the 1840s. In 1854, Norris moved to Bangor, and with a partner, Sumner Brasford, opened a store on Broad Street, stocking it with iron, steel and blacksmith goods. Thirteen years later, Norris bought out his partner, and his son, N.E. Bragg, joined him in the business.

In those days, most orders were shipped by stagecoach lines. The stage drivers brought in customers' orders early in the morning and picked up shipments of merchandise later in the day, similar to trucking operations today.

When Norris died in 1867, another son, C.F. Bragg, joined the company, and the Bragg brothers gradually expanded their product offering to include hardware and woodworking supplies. The company also became heavily involved with the lumber industry. The brothers operated the company together until N.E. Bragg's death in 1905.

C.F. Bragg then became president, later to be succeeded by his son, Franklin E. Bragg. These business leaders were cognizant of the changes occurring in the Bangor marketplace. They sold anvils, hammers and other products needed in the "industrial" sector and used by blacksmiths, but the invention of the automobile drastically changed their product mix. The blacksmith shop was the only "garage" in the early days of the horseless carriage, and customers looked to the same source for automobile supplies. N.H. Bragg sold products ranging from bumpers to headlamps.

Management saw the potential for this new invention and began stocking all types of accessories for automobiles, in addition to carrying industrial supplies. The company updated its front counter area to better serve customers, carried more inventory, and established an automotive machine shop. Many of these changes came under the direction of vice president Donald J. Eames, who joined the company in 1924 and retired more than 50 years later. Eames was the son-in-law of Franklin Bragg. Business flourished.

Over the years, N.H. Bragg & Sons bought or opened 15 auto parts stores across the state. But in 2002, current president John Bragg made the decision to sell the stores to Carquest, one of the largest auto parts chains in the country.

"That was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make," says Bragg, noting that auto parts comprised one-third of the company's sales. "But I knew it was the right thing to do."

John Bragg explains that cars today are made so well, there's less need for maintenance. And the complexity of the computerized systems under the hood means that cars are often brought back to the dealer for repairs, instead of being done by the do-it-yourselfer.

"As I said, we're slow to make changes, but we do make changes," he says.

N.H. Bragg & Sons was located on Broad Street, in the heart of downtown Bangor, until 1966, when the city began an urban renewal project. That year, the company relocated to its present location on Perry Road, in Bangor's first industrial park. Since then, N.H. Bragg & Sons has expanded several times, and is now substantially increasing the size of its front counter area, which does a booming business.

The company sells all types of industrial supplies. It stocks cutting tools, abrasives, fasteners, hose and fittings, hand tools, material handling products and other MRO items. For nearly 75 years, the company has sold welding equipment, and it leases, repairs and hydrostatic tests gas cylinders. Bragg sells its gases to the medical community as well as to industrial customers.

Bragg also repairs all the tools it sells. Employees maintain an equipment service van for emergency service, a construction-site van for on-site inventory, and conduct safety-training programs and demonstrate new equipment for customers.

The company has grown consistently. Sales were up 8 percent in 2001, despite the tough economy. But the Bangor area has been especially hard hit by the economic downturn. Its pulp and paper industry, for example, lost 25 percent of its workforce as the recession firmly took hold. The downturn affected N.H. Bragg & Sons, as sales were flat in 2003 compared to 2002.

"Pulp and paper used to be our number one business," says John Bragg. "Now it's dropped to third."

Construction and manufacturing are at the top of Bragg's customer list. In order to sell more to existing customers, the company has added safety products and janitorial supplies to its product mix.

To make sure the company maintains its reputation as a product expert, N.H. Bragg hired Linda Phillips, a 15-year veteran of the safety industry, as an outside salesperson. The company also expanded its traditional selling area in Bangor in 1992, when it ventured further south into Portland, Maine, with a new warehouse.

"Few there had ever heard of us," John Bragg says, noting that Portland is an "entirely different selling area" than Bangor. But he says it was the right decision and that he seized the opportunity when it presented itself.

All of Bragg's decisions have paid off. The company has about 16 vendor-managed inventory contracts, and two customers now want N.H. Bragg & Sons to be full integrators for their companies, handling all of their MRO supplies. Jon Eames points out that Bragg recently landed one of the largest contracts in its history.

In addition, technology continues to play an important role in the growth of N.H. Bragg & Sons.

"All of our salespeople have laptops," John Bragg says, pointing out that all customer database information can be retrieved instantaneously by the company's 22 inside and outside salespeople. In addition, the company's entire product catalog will soon be available online so customers can see products, inventory and pricing information.

"We don't pay salespeople commissions," John Bragg says, explaining that salaries are based on overall performance. The policy seems to be working. The inside salespeople have worked on average for more than 15 years, and some outside salespeople have been with the company for more than 30 years.

N.H. Bragg has been involved with trade associations and marketing groups as well. The company was a member of the Northeast Vendors Alliance and then I.D. One, the first marketing group in the industrial distribution sector. N.H. Bragg is now a member of Affiliated Distributors.

"They're [N.H. Bragg] a terrific company," says Stu Mechlin, vice president of the industrial supply division of A-D. "These guys [Jon Eames and John Bragg] just stand out. They bring so much brainpower to our group. They take their responsibilities as members very seriously and, in addition, they're great people to work with."

Inevitably, the question has to be asked: Why has N.H. Bragg & Sons succeeded in keeping a family-owned business in operation for six generations, when very few family-owned companies make it to the third generation?

"I guess there was a little bit of luck involved," admits Clif Eames, Jon Eames' father, who was president from 1980 to 1992 before handing over the reins to John Bragg. He notes that there was a 15- to 16-year age difference between the uncles, nephews or cousins who became presidents. The "older" generation mentored the younger generation.

The company isn't afraid to ask for outside help when it's needed, however. When Clif Eames became president, for example, he brought in a management consulting firm to recommend changes in the management reporting structure. Several changes were made as a result of the study.

John Bragg's father, Charles Bragg, 92, president of N.H. Bragg & Sons from 1951 to 1980, and who's involved in many charitable groups in the city of Bangor, explains that "the company always came first."

"Our decisions were always based on what was in the best interests for the future of the company and its ultimate survival," he adds.

Both Charles Bragg and Clif Eames serve as advisors to their sons in helping them run the business. John Bragg adds that his predecessors all had the same view of the business: put profits back into the company.

"That's what really has helped this company survive," he says. "The focus of the management of this company has always been on serving the needs of the customer."

Jake Nichol, president of the Danaher Tool Group, which has been supplying N.H. Bragg & Sons for many years, agrees.

"What has made John Bragg and Jon Eames successful is that they've never lost that focus," he says. "They're a progressive, traditional distributor who is totally committed to helping the customer."

Lisa Tardiff, a senior buyer with ZF Lemborder Corp., has been buying from N.H. Bragg & Sons for nearly five years, and knows first-hand the company's commitment to customer service.

"They have such a wide variety of lines, it makes it easy for us to order," she says, adding that N.H. Bragg & Sons has become a single-source supplier for them. "We had tried this with other distributors, but it just didn't work out. N.H. Bragg is extremely responsive to our needs. If we need a product they don't normally stock, they get it for us."

ZF Lemborder, which supplies automotive components to OEM customers throughout the world, is located in Brew, Maine, a short ride from N.H. Bragg & Sons.

"Every day we send them an order and they get it right over for us," Tardiff says.

In addition, she says N.H. Bragg employees conduct training classes for her maintenance staff in areas such as gas detection monitoring, welding and cut-off band saws.

The expertise of N.H. Bragg & Sons' management goes beyond products. Jake Nichol says he often uses John Bragg as a sounding board because of his experience and industry knowledge. N.H. Bragg & Sons' background in the automotive and industrial sectors, he adds, gives the company a unique perspective.

Nichol also notes that the company has maintained a delicate balance: adhering to the heritage of its founders, yet having the foresight to invest in technology in order to make sound business decisions.

That heritage is important to John Bragg as he points with pride to the pictures of some of his family members who served as presidents of N.H. Bragg & Sons. Each of those men started in the business the same way: by working in the warehouse. From there, they worked their way through the company's various departments so that they'd know first-hand the problems and opportunities in each one.

Jon Eames, who has a 10-year-old son he hopes will come into the business some day, says he started working in the warehouse at the age of 15 during summer vacations. He eventually went to Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., before deciding he wanted to join the N.H. Bragg & Sons management team.

"I really valued and enjoyed the time I spent here working in the summers," he says. "I think we've been fortunate that we've been able to work so well together here. There's no better job."

John Bragg, a lifelong Maine resident who is a graduate of Colby College, will be stepping down from his post as president in a few years. He says he's determined to position N.H Bragg & Sons to "be around for another 100 years," and still be a family-owned business.

"It's just the right thing to do," he says.

Norris H. Bragg would be proud.