Cado Products (pronounced 'Kay-doh') is an American company specializing in custom blow molding and seasonal blow mold decoration manufacturing, that was created in 1957 and is still in business today. Cado is known today mainly for their production of the legendary Featherstone Flamingo after their acquisition of Union Products. They are based in Leominster, Massachusetts.
History[]
Cado was formed in 1957 as a custom blow molding company. Prior to 2010, Cado was not a major name in the seasonal blow mold industry as they only specialised in custom part blow molding at the time, manufacturing the occasional watering can as well.
Union Products of Fitchburg, Massachusetts closed in 2006, the owner of the original Lawn Flamingo sculpted by Don Featherstone. In an unexpected and surprising move, Cado purchased Union's assets in 2010 and formed them into a subsidiary of their own brand. Thus, Union Products was essentially revived as a company, with Cado as their parent company. It was announced that they had purchased the rights to create the original Featherstone Flamingo, as well as numerous other molds they acquired from the formerly defunct brand. Don and his wife Nancy helped with marketing. Cado's president, Bruce Zarozny, was excited about the purchase, calling it a 'tremendous opportunity for (the Cado) company.' It proved to be a tremendous opportunity indeed.
At some point after, Cado also acquired Fantazia Marketing, a company that created blow mold banks such as the famous Ice Cream and Crayon Banks. Fantazia too, was converted to a subsidiary of Cado.
Cado has also acquired various molds from other defunct companies such as A.J. Renzi Plastic, General Foam Plastics, TPI Plastics, and Grand Venture.
Cado still produces the iconic flamingo and numerous other seasonal decorations and watering cans. They can also be contacted for custom blow molding jobs. It seems Cado has yet to utilize all of the molds they acquired from other companies, however more have been added to their lineup each year in recent times.
Additionally, Cado utilizes the eBay seller “Jon’s Nostalgic Items” to test market new products and offer exclusive designs through the marketplace.