- Beyond furs and carpets:
entrepreneurship at its best
“During the Second World War we could not travel outside of Switzerland. Geography being one of my favourite subjects, I was itching to see the world. In 1950, after completing my education, military service and 3 years with a large importer of machine tools, I left for London to attend a six month course at the Swiss Mercantile School and subsequently was able to get a job with the importer/distributor of Swiss made Bolex cameras. Obtaining the necessary work permit was a long process so I returned to Switzerland to wait for it and found a temporary job as a packer in the mail order department of Jelmoli”, Freddy Mettler says about the beginning of his travels. He worked in London for 2 ½ years while his girl friend and now wife, Julie, stayed as an au pair girl with a wealthy family in Surrey.
It was a very hot and humid when they arrived in Toronto and the city was a bit of a disappointment for both: staid and pretty dull; cinemas, sports events and all other entertainment closed on Sundays – even the display windows at Eaton’s downtown store were covered up – with very strict liquor laws and only a handful of decent restaurants. Julie was not very amused and decided to get in touch with a school friend of a neighbour she had met while in
Surrey and who had taken pity on a young lady about to embark on an adventure in Canada.
Muriel Broad, that English school friend living in Toronto’s Rosedale, invited Julie for tea, and that changed the life for both Julie and Freddy. Muriel, her husband Ralph (a delightful and successful Australian businessman) and their two teenage children, accepted Julie into their family in September 1952. Julie helped Mrs. Broad with some household work, but was able to continue part time work at Simpsons. Freddy, too, became part of the family; indeed Mr. Broad, early in 1953, during a discussion under four eyes, asked “why don’t you and Julie get married”. Freddy took only a few minutes to propose to Julie and for Julie to accept. “The Broad family organised the entire wedding for us which took place on May 21, 1953 at the Rosedale United Church. Mr. Broad proudly gave the bride away, daughter Carol was the bridesmaid and son Robert Freddy’s best man. It was a beautiful and small wedding and we will always be grateful to the Broad family to give us such a great start in Canada” said Freddy. Muriel and Ralph Broad were delighted when our son, Peter, came into this world in 1958 and as god parents took great interest and pride in Peter’s education and achievements as a film maker.
As for Freddy, he found a more interesting job with a large importer of natural rubber, tin and burlap a few weeks after arriving in Toronto, staying with the firm for ten years, eventually being appointed Vice President and becoming a member of the company’s Board of Directors. In 1962 an opportunity came along for Freddy to start his own firm in partnership with a U.S. company which, in co-operation with a British owned corporation in Calcutta, India, was pioneering the use of an upgraded form of jute fabrics for the manufacture of tufted carpets which quickly replaced woven carpets. Canada, in the late fifties, had only two or three manufacturers of woven carpets but within 10 years they discontinued production and more than 20 new tufted carpet mills started up. White Lamb Finlay Ltd., now fully owned by Freddy by 1967, was by far the largest supplier of jute backings but he realized early on that sooner or later jute would have to be replaced by a synthetic substitute, polypropolene. Through his connections in Dalton, Ga., the “carpet capital of the world”, he was able to obtain the exclusive distribution for synthetic carpet backings for Canada; for a number of years jute continued to be used but, as expected, it was eventually totally replaced. White Lamb Finlay Ltd. expanded also into the technical field, becoming the exclusive distributor for all of North America for a critically important component of carpet manufacturing developed and manufactured in Japan. In the l980’s WLF opened an office in Georgia to supply the US manufacturers.
All along, however, Freddy was concerned about the future of his business and started up a number of diversification ventures. The most important was Dynaflair Corp., which he set up in Pointe Claire, P.Q., in 1969, to develop and manufacture Aluminum Sliding Grilles for shopping centres, to replace sliding glass doors. A patent was received for the product a few years later. It is difficult to be first with a new product as architects, store owners and installers had to be convinced of the viability of the product and the manufacturer. Dynaflair moved into a 30,000 sq. Building in Pointe Claire and opened a sales office in Long Island, N.Y. in 1973. The company made substantial progress over the years but, as Freddy says, “the workload, the constant travels and the financial needs, worries and sacrifices by the family” convinced him to sell Dynaflair in 1979. Freddy, however to this day is still proud of “his baby“ as Dynaflair continues to be an important manufacturer of sliding grilles which have secured a dominant market share in North American malls.
After 40 years of owning and operating several companies it was time to retire and he was delighted when a long time Swiss employee stepped forward and acquired White Lamb Finlay Ltd. in 2003. This has given Julie and Freddy the opportunity to spend more time away in Arizona and Switzerland.
From the beginning of their arrival in Toronto the Swiss colony has been close to Freddy and Julie. They became members of the Swiss Canadian Club, started by Kurt Suter, a club for post world war Swiss immigrants. Freddy was part of a delegation of this club negotiating a merger with the Swiss Club Toronto, and subsequently served on the Board and as a President. He continues to take a great interest in the Club and served on the organising committee of the 90th anniversary party in 2008
He also saw a need for get togethers of Swiss businessmen in Toronto and became a founding member of the Swiss Canadian Businessmen Association (SCBA) which was incorporated in 1967. It subsequently changed its name to Swiss Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Ontario) Inc. Freddy served as Executive Officer and Editor of the monthly 48 page “INFO/SUISSE“ magazine for over 25 years and is very proud that the Chamber to this day is successful and in good hands.
“It has been a good life for us” says Freddy, “I sometimes ask myself what would have happened had we stayed in Switzerland. Julie tells me that I would have had a great career there as well. This could well have been the case, especially as Switzerland, and all of Europe, prospered enormously after the War. Still, Canada gave me the opportunity to start my own business and for this I am deeply thankful to the country. Most of all, I am deeply thankful to my wife Julie who has supported and stood by me through good times and bad, all the while being a loving and caring mother to our son Peter, who has become a successful and internationally acclaimed filmmaker.
For more information, visit:
Peter Mettler: www.petermettler.com
Dynaflair: www.dynaflair.com
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