please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral . please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources . june 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message the mentholatum company inc. type subsidiary industry personal care products founded wichita kansas united states 1889 headquarters orchard park new york united states key people akiyoshi yoshida ceo ; taffy collopy public relations products cosmetics pharmaceuticals revenue 31.6 million est. 2007 parent rohto pharmaceutical co. website www.mentholatum.com the mentholatum company inc. founded in 1889 by albert alexander hyde is an american maker of non prescription health care products . it was bought out by rohto pharmaceutical co. a japanese health care company in 1988 . the mentholatum company is widely associated with its top three products the mentholatum ointment mentholatum deep heating rub and mentholatum lip care . contents 1 background 1.1 beginning 1889 1935 1.2 japanese expansion and acquisition 1913 1988 1.3 international expansion 1988 1999 1.4 mentholatum in the 21st century 2 references 3 further reading 4 external links background edit beginning 1889 1935 edit an old bottle of aa hyde mentholatum ointment the beginning of the mentholatum company started when albert alexander hyde left the real estate market in 1889 . with the collapse of the market hyde established a new partnership called the yucca company located in wichita kansas which focused on manufacturing and marketing shaving creams laundry soap and toilet soap . the yucca company was the beginning of the mentholatum company . when the yucca company started manufacturing a cough syrup containing a blend of camphor and menthol named vest pocket cough specific hyde became intrigued by the soothing and antiinflammatory effects of menthol . after years of research and experimentation the company introduced the original mentholatum ointment in december 1894 which consisted of a combination of menthol and petrolatum . sales went wild . in 1903 hyde opened a second office in buffalo new york to handle sales and distribution east of the mississippi river . in 1906 the yucca co. officially incorporated the name the mentholatum company after its flagship product and no longer sold soap . in 1909 a new factory was built in wichita kansas and in 1919 a second factory was built in buffalo . the wichita factory was closed after the death of a. a. hyde in 1935 and the corporate offices were moved to wilmington delaware in 1937 and later to buffalo in 1945 . citation needed japanese expansion and acquisition 1913 1988 edit the products of the company spread to japan through the missionary work of the american william merrell vories . when vories acquired the rights to sell mentholatum products in 1920 he began importing and selling the product in japan under the name menturm which in turn was marketed through a company called the omi sales company . business continued to thrive in japan even after vories died in 1964 . in 1974 the giant japanese pharmaceutical company based in osaka known as rohto pharmaceutical co. set its eyes on the mentholatum company . in august 1975 it acquired the trademark rights to mentholatum and began to sell the mentholatum ointment and mentholatum medicated lip stick which proved to be a financial success as the company s revenue skyrocketed to 2.64 billion by april 1981 . rohto pharmaceutical co. continued to acquire the management rights to the mentholatum company in june 1988 thus completing the merge . international expansion 1988 1999 edit in october 1991 the mentholatum zhongshan pharmaceuticals was founded in zhongshan guangdong province china as a joint venture company as well as the headquarters for chinese expansion . in may 1996 mentholatum s eye drops began local production and sales in china . p.t. rhoto laboratories indonesia and a new tokyo branch office was also established in september and december 1996 respectively . in 1998 mentholatum moved its headquarters to sterling drive in orchard park new york . 1 in the mid 1999 the company released a new eye product called zi which is designed to cool and refresh the eyes with natural camphor and ph balanced purified water solution . later that year zi for eyes was named best new eyecare product in the 1999 superdrug health & beauty awards . the company continued to manufacture new products such as migraine ice chill pads for migraine sufferers softlips lip protectant deep heating rub natural ice medicated lip balm pain patch fisherman s friend cough drops fletcher s castoria red cross toothache remedy red cross canker sore medication and of course its original mentholatum ointment . by the end of 1999 mentholatum alone had roughly more than 150 million worth of annual sales . mentholatum in the 21st century edit as of 2005 the company sells its products in more than 130 countries . mentholatum acquired the oxy skin care branding but not all the product formulas from glaxosmithkline in december 2005 2 and targeted the younger teen audience with new diversified offerings packaging and scents . the company further acquired the phisoderm brand from chattem inc. for 9.6 million on november 30 2005 . 3 references edit springville journal staff . january 30 2015 the mentholatum company thanks wny residents for success mentholatum buys glaxosmithkline unit . buffalo business first . retrieved 2015 08 18 . mentholatum buys phisoderm brand . buffalo business first . retrieved 2015 08 18 . further reading edit alex taylor . amazing mentholatum and the commerce of curing the common cold 1889 1955 . angeles crest publications inc. ; 1st edition october 20 2006 isbn 9780978617301 external links edit mentholatum the official global corporate website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mentholatum & oldid 737342695 categories pharmaceutical companies of the united statescompanies established in 18891889 establishments in kansashidden categories articles needing additional references from june 2016all articles needing additional referencesarticles lacking reliable references from june 2016all articles lacking reliable referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from july 2008 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload 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