John Steven Barry (August 31, 1924 – July 3, 2009) was an American business executive who popularized

WD-40 WD-40 (Water Displacement, 40th formula) is an American manufacturer and the trademark of a penetrating oil manufactured by the WD-40 Company based in San Diego, California. Its formula was invented for the Rocket Chemical Company in 1953, ...

, a water-displacing spray and

solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...

that had been created in the 1950s for use in the space program and spread its use in the consumer market.

Early life and education

Barry was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, from which he received a bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. He was designated to participate in an officer's training program after enlisting in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, as part of which he attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. After his military service, he attended the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree progra ...

, earning a master's degree in business administration. He had been hired by 3M after graduation, but was called to active duty in the Navy during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

.Martin, Douglas
"John S. Barry, Main Force Behind WD-40, Dies at 84"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', July 22, 2009. Accessed July 22, 2009.

WD-40 WD-40 (Water Displacement, 40th formula) is an American manufacturer and the trademark of a penetrating oil manufactured by the WD-40 Company based in San Diego, California. Its formula was invented for the Rocket Chemical Company in 1953, ...

The product had originally been created by Rocket Chemical Company in 1953 as a degreasing and rust-preventing spray, with the name

coming from "water displacement, formulation successful in 40th attempt". One of its earliest users was

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, was an American aircraft-manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee ...

, which used the liquid to protect the outside of its

SM-65 Atlas The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General ...

missiles.

Norm Larsen Norman Bernard Larsen (1923—1970) was an American industrial chemist. Biography He was born in Chicago. Larsen is sometimes credited with inventing the WD-40 formula in 1953 but this is not certain. The WD-40 company website and other books an ...

, one of WD-40's creators, saw that Convair employees had found uses in their homes and started marketing the product in stores starting in 1958. Barry had no involvement in the company until he was hired in 1969 to succeed his father-in-law, Cy Irving, as its chief executive office and president, with one of his first actions being to rename the company WD-40 Company after its best-known product, reasoning that the company was not in the rocket business, after all. Through creative marketing, Barry was able to significantly increase the product's market through additional advertising spending, improving the design of the product and its distinctive blue and yellow aerosol can, expanding sales into supermarkets to tap into

impulse purchase In the field of consumer behavior, an impulse purchase or impulse buying is an unplanned decision by a consumer to buy a product or service, made just before a purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse purcha ...

s and growing distribution from 1,200 wholesalers when he was hired to 14,000 within a decade in the United States and internationally. Barry was fond of using free product samples as a promotional tool, including 10,000 that were sent monthly to soldiers fighting in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

to help maintain their weapons in the difficult climate. Barry steadfastly resisted the received wisdom that diversification was the optimal

marketing strategy Marketing strategy refers to efforts undertaken by an Organizational structure, organization to increase its sales and achieve competitive advantage. In other words, it is the method of advertising a company's products to the public through an est ...

, resolutely keeping the company a one-product firm. Though Barry acknowledged that other companies had products that were similar to his, he ensured that the firm jealously protected its trademark and that it never fully revealed the components used in its manufacture to the public. He refused to produce a

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

version of the product for

Sears, Roebuck and Company Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

, emphasizing that at WD-40 "we are a marketing company" even if they "appear to be a manufacturing company". Company surveys showed that 80% of American households had the product, using it for the standard squeaky hinges and road tar removal, to ungluing tongues stuck to frozen metal and removing a python from under a bus. Barry stepped down as president and CEO in September 1990 and was succeeded by Gerald C. Schleif. Barry left his role as chairman of the board in September 2000, and was followed in the post by Daniel W. Derbes. Sales grew from $2 million in 1970, his first full year at the company, to $90 million in 1990 and $317 million in the year before his death.

Personal

Barry died at age 84 on July 3, 2009, due to

pulmonary fibrosis Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory ...

in a skilled nursing center in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

.Perry, Tony
"John Barry dies at 84; former executive made WD-40 a household name"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', July 22, 2009. Accessed September 7, 2010. He was survived by his wife, the former Marian A. Irving; a daughter, Deborah B. Faneros of

Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan and ...

, California, two sons, Stephen A. Barry of Escondido and Randy P. Barry of San Diego, and four grandsons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, John Steven 1924 births 2009 deaths Columbia University alumni Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis Harvard University alumni MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Businesspeople from San Diego United States Navy sailors University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni American chief executives of manufacturing companies 20th-century American businesspeople