History
A Tale of Tape
It was the year 1908… The year when New York City first dropped a ball to celebrate New Year’s Day, the Wrights took their first passenger up in an airplane, and Henry Ford introduced the Model T. It was also the year when two young men, Miah Marcus and Frank Bernstein, chased their dreams and founded the company that would eventually come to be known as American Biltrite Inc.
More than 110 years later, American Biltrite Inc. is still owned and operated by the 3rd and 4th generations of the Marcus Family. The business is headquartered in Wellesley Hills, MA with offices all over the world.
American Biltrite Inc. began primarily as a rubber company, manufacturing heels and soles for the shoe industry. One of the very first product offerings from Boston Woven Hose, a company we would come to acquire, were a collection of rubber friction tapes. In the 60s and 70s, ABI’s tape business began to take on an identity of its own.
Between 1980 and the early 2000s, ABI doubled its size through growth and acquisition. The brand new Tape Division headquarters was constructed and it still operates in Moorestown, NJ today. We gained Ideal Tape Company, which is still based out of Lowell, MA, and at the same time acquired Ideal Tape’s operation in Belgium. Though ABI had already been doing business worldwide, the purchase of our Belgian division, and the other acquisitions we were about to make, would officially take ABI Tape international.
Keeping our momentum going, ABI Tape established a division in Singapore called American Biltrite Far East (ABFE), to meet the growing demand of our customers worldwide. We also moved the shoe business from Belgium to a newly established division in Civitanova Marche, Italy, ABItalia. With plants in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Belgium, Singapore, and Italy, ABI greatly increased our ability to provide customers around the globe with world-class tape products.
ABI Tape presently produces a range of pressure sensitive tapes for the Automotive, Graphics, HVAC, Insulation, Industrial, Shoe & Leather Goods, and Surface Protection markets. For more than 110 years, we have worked tirelessly to perfect the art of tape manufacturing and we have no intention of slowing down. Our customers are our partners and we hope you will join us in becoming a part of ABI’s long, rich history.
