Rookwood Pottery CEO Wade exits role
Martin Wade is leaving management of day-to-day operations at the Rookwood Pottery Co.
Wade, 65, gathered Rookwood employees Monday to inform them of his exit, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting. He has served as the company's chief executive since early 2012.
Wade and his wife Marilyn – great-granddaughter of E.W. Scripps, who founded the nation's first big newspaper chain – have been majority owners in the company for four years after it was returned to Cincinnati in the mid-2000s.
The modern Rookwood company has worked to rebuild its regional and national reputation by investing in equipment to boost production at 1920 Race St. in Over-the-Rhine, hiring new artists and sales personnel. The company's opened its first retail shop at 1209 Jackson St. in 2013.
However, Wade's tenure with the company has been marked by clashes with management, lawsuits over how he managed the company and concerns about keeping a venerable Cincinnati company profitable. He also butted heads with noted Cincinnati chef Jean-Robert de Cavel, after being engaged in a restaurant management partnership that produced several popular eateries such as Jean-Robert at Pigall's and Lavomatic.
Among the pending litigation: A Rookwood Pottery creditor revived a lawsuit earlier this year claiming he was stiffed thousands of dollars owed on a $100,000 loan made to the company in 2009. That case is ongoing in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas.
Modern Rookwood works to restore old luster
Rookwood Pottery helped put American ceramics on the international arts map.
The company's roots trace back to 1876 when Maria Longworth attended an international ceramic exhibition in Philadelphia, where the American pieces were widely criticized.
Longworth started a pottery club in Cincinnati in 1880, and nine years later Rookwood was honored at an international ceramics competition in Paris. The company became known for its high-quality glazes and architectural pottery, and by the turn of the century it employed 200 artists and workers. Five thousand people a year visited the Mount Adams location.
Sales started to dip during the Depression, and in 1941, Rookwood filed for bankruptcy. A series of ownership changes ensued, and in 1959, the Herschede Clock Co. purchased Rookwood and moved production to Starkville, Mississippi.
Production ceased in 1967 until a Michigan dentist and collector named Dr. Arthur Townley bought Rookwood's assets from a group of Florida investors, and personally re-started production on a limited scale in 1983.
Former CEO Christopher Rose and his brother Patrick helped bring the company back to Cincinnati and helped orchestrate Rookwood's purchase with local investors in 2006 in a $1.6 million deal. The Wades had increased their stake in Rookwood in 2007 and 2008, and took control of the board in December 2010.
Christopher Rose was forced out as chief executive and replaced by Chip DeMois Jr., a move that would later trigger a court battle. Rose argued that Martin Wade used inside information as a board member to secure a "back-room deal" to buy the company's outstanding debt at an extreme discount.
In May 2011, disgruntled creditors of Rookwood – including Rose – forced the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, saying they were owed nearly $260,000.
The Wades had planned to auction the company's assets that month with the hope of reorganizing under a new corporate structure. The case was dismissed in July 2011 after creditors decided to not move forward with the case under the terms established by the bankruptcy judge.
DeMois left the company in January 2012.
"With Martin out of the driver's seat, Rookwood, that is so special and dear to me and so many others in this city, the company and (its) culture finally have the best chance to succeed that it's had in four years," Rose said when reached Tuesday.
Wades have development plans, operated high-profile restaurants
It isn't immediately clear what impact Wade's exit from Rookwood will have on real estate development projects he planned in Over-the-Rhine.
Late last year, Wade said he planned to pursue more than $70 million of development in Over-the-Rhine on mixed-use projects.
The biggest piece of that money would have been spent on developing a five-story building with apartments, offices and retail space near Walnut and Liberty streets and row houses nearby along Clay Street near Liberty. A $30 million second project phase called for adding 68 two- and three-bedroom apartments on Walnut near 14th Street on land near the Kroger grocery store on Vine Street.
But before those developments were on the table, the Wades spent more than a decade being a high-profile presence in Cincinnati's restaurant scene.
Before those developments were on the table, ended a more than decade-long chapter of the Wades' involvement in Cincinnati's restaurant scene.
Over several years, the Wades and de Cavel opened JeanRo Bistro on Vine Street Downtown, Pho Paris in Oakley, Lavomatic in Over-the-Rhine, and Greenup Cafe in Covington. Pho Paris later moved to Covington and when it closed, it was replaced by Chalk Food + Wine. The Wades also opened Savor Catering.
Lavomatic and Local 127 closed last year.