Lunch Bucket Beginnings
Jim Frost began collecting pocket knives in 1969.
This small hobby, started by an everyday shift worker
at a chemical plant, has grown over the past 30 years
into a multi-million dollar business which employs
over 100 employees at its sole location in Ooltewah,
Tennessee. The business began in Jim's lunch bucket
and quickly grew out of his car trunk, garage, and
four increasingly larger warehouses before finding its
home in a 150,000 square foot plant completed in
2004.
From 1969 to 1978,
Jim saw his business
interest in knives grow
from a hobby to the
formation of Frost
Distributing company
in 1972 to the Parker-
Frost partnership in
1976. This short-lived
association was mutually
dissolved in 1978
when Jim began importing cutlery under the Frost
Cutlery® tang stamp.
The Frost Family
The Frost Cutlery story is not a Jim Frost story; many
loyal and dedicated employees, including his son
Stephen and daughter Stefanie, contribute greatly.
After learning the business from the bottom up,
Stephen Frost now holds the position of Chief
Operations Officer. Once the driving force of the Frost
Falcons, Stefanie Frost-Durham now plays a key role in
many of the day to day operations of the business.
The dedication of Frost Cutlery employees does not
end with Jim's children;
Senior Vice-
President, Jeff Daniel,
sets the standard of
dedication in the company
as an employee of almost thirty years. There
are now well over a hundred
employees at Frost
Cutlery, and many of
them have tenure of
ten years or more.
Though much of
Frost Cutlery's success
can be attributed to
Mr. Frost's leadership,
his ability to surround
himself with quality
individuals plays a
large part as well.
He has said:
"Whenever I have the chance to talk to young people, I
tell them that those who seek, listen, learn and utilize
the intelligence of others are themselves some of the
smartest people in the world." This is the type of relationship
Jim Frost has with his employees: he is the
teacher and the student.
Quality and Tradition
In addition to the Frost
Cutlery line, the Hen &
Rooster® brand is owned by
Frost Cutlery and is known as
some of the finest cutlery
made in the world today.
Celebrating it's
165th Anniversary, the Hen &
Rooster name has always
been a tried and true
favorite. This aspect of the
brand made the Hen &
Rooster® a perfect fit with
Frost Cutlery, who has always
been known in the industry
for quality and workmanship.
Over 100 hand operations go
into the production of each
knife to produce an item that anyone would be proud to
own for a lifetime. Since the purchase of this line of fine
pocket knives and fixed blade knives, Frost Cutlery has
introduced many new patterns, as well as variations on
the oldest ones.
Today, Hen & Rooster® features a full
line of genuine
deer stag hunting
knives, pocket
knives in over
20 different
bone colors,
and
dozens
of the
highly
attractive and durable
Corelon® handles, introduced
to the knife industry
by Frost Cutlery in
1996.
Recently, Hen &
Rooster has re-introduced
the classic razor.
This old-pattern-made-new
was
embraced by
cutlery collectors
around the
world.
Continuing the Legacy
In the tradition of Hen &
Rooster®, The German Bull
Brand™ which is made and
imported from Germany, features
some of the more traditional patterns
in Deer Stag, Cape Buffalo
Horn, and Cracked Ice Celluloid,
and is the Sunday knife for the
working man. Each knife is made
with only top-notch materials,
and superior workmanship at a
price that is affordable to the
masses.
Jim Frost continues to
grow his business by understanding
the needs of the market
and striving to create the
products that people want. In the
spirit of that
philosophy,
Frost Cutlery
introduced
three
uniquely branded
knife lines in the
fall of 2006.
The first line is the Frost Family™ line which features a
brand new Frost Family™ Crest Shield and Frost Motto
banner etch reading "Qualitas est familia institutio."
which means "Quality is a family tradition." Each knife
has mirror polished blades, nickel silver bolsters,
brass pins, and hand-picked bone
handles in a variety of new colors.
Next to be introduced was the
"Uncle Lucky" Brand, featuring a
special Four-Leaf Clover Shield
inspired by a nickname given
to Mr. Frost by the sons of
longtime friend and owner
of Smoky Mountain Knife
Works, Kevin Pipes.
The
third line, made in
the tradition of the longtime
favorite BuckCreek®
line, carries the
Buffalo Creek tang.
Each of these new product lines are indicative of Mr.
Frost's dedication to continued growth in the industry.
Changing of the Guard
Over the years, drastic changes in manufacturing have
essentially precipitated the extinction of many major cutlery
brands. To avoid the pitfalls seen by others, Frost
Cutlery diligently works to exceed their own best work.
The Steel Warrior® brand has succeeded in reaching the
top to stand along side the Japanese and American-Made
lines in quality. Over recent years this infant cutlery
brand has made a name for
itself, boasting some of the top
sales of any cutlery line. Frost
Cutlery has high hope of continuing
to grow a loyal following
of customers who believe
in the Steel Warrior® brand
as synonymous with excellence.
The production of high-end
knife commemoratives has
also been one of the driving
forces in the Frost Cutlery
business. Boxed knife and
coin sets are some of the
most popular types of specialty collectibles. Many of the
limited edition commemoratives produced by Frost
Cutlery are the incarnation of Jim Frost himself, and
reflect his constant ambition to expand the way people
perceive the knife industry.
Partnerships
Beginning in 1987 with just a handshake agreement between
Jim Frost and
"The
Intimidator",
Frost Cutlery
began making
commemorative
knives and sets to mark career highlights for Dale
Earnhardt. This association evolved into probably the
most successful of the commemorative knife lines Frost
Cutlery has ever had including Dale Earnhardt, Jr products,
as well as others in the DEI team. Over the years,
Jim Frost also struck a friendship with #3
car owner, Richard Childress. The two
found that they had many things in common,
including strong business sense, and
a passion for fishing.
Frost Cutlery has continued in the
tradition of making great partnerships by
teaming up with fishing
legend, Bill
Dance of Bill Dance Outdoors.
Together, they have created a special
line of cutlery specifically
designed for the outdoor sportsman,
and particularly the sport
fisherman. Each product has been
carefully chosen and manufactured
with these
customers in
mind, and are all
licensed and
endorsed by Bill
Dance Outdoors.
We believe that
with their combined
knowledge
of knives and fishing,
Jim Frost and
Bill Dance will
have a lasting venture that will
benefit all.
