| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Plumbing |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Founder(s) | Samuel Blanc |
| Headquarters | Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
| Key people |
Kevin J. McNamara, CEO & President David P. Williams CFO & Vice-President |
| Employees | 3,000 [1] |
| Parent | Chemed |
Roto-Rooter is a United States company which originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer lines. [1]
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In the late 1920s, Samuel Oscar Blanc (1883–1964) was motivated by a stubborn clogged drain in his son's (Milton L. Blanc) Des Moines, Iowa apartment to seek a better solution.
By 1933, Milton & Samuel Blanc had fashioned a sewer-cleaning machine from a washing machine motor, roller skate wheels and a 3/8" steel cable. The cable rotated sharp blades to cut tree roots out of sewer lines, eliminating the tedious and expensive need to dig. Blanc's wife, Lettie (née Lettie Jensen), called his invention, a heavy-duty plumber's snake, the "Roto-Rooter."[2]
By the mid-1930s, Blanc was selling "Roto-Rooter" machines for $250. Many who were eager for work in the midst of the Great Depression started their own Roto-Rooter businesses throughout the upper Midwest, the Great Plains and the Northeast.
Roto-Rooter guaranteed results without having to dig up the lawn to reach underground sewer pipes.
In 1980, the Blanc family sold Roto-Rooter Corporation to Cincinnati-based Chemed Corporation. Chemed began purchasing some independent Roto-Rooter franchises and operating them as company-owned locations under the newly formed Roto-Rooter Services Company. Chemed sold off some of its holdings in Roto-Rooter in both 1984 and 1985, bringing its ownership stake to just below 60%, and launched a bid in 1996 to reacquire the 42% of shares that it had earlier sold off.[3]
At first, service vehicles bore the slogan: "Roto-Rooter's patented cutting blades slice through roots and cut them away...Razor-Kleen!"
The Roto-Rooter was created in 1954 and has been one of the longest-running and best-remembered musical jingles in history:[4]
"Call Roto-Rooter, that's the name, and away go troubles down the drain."
The memorable bass voice in the commercial was that of Tom Fouts, more widely known as Captain Stubby of Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers.
Roto-Rooter is featured in the SyFy show Ghost Hunters as the two founders of TAPS work for Roto-Rooter as plumbers in the company's Providence, Rhode Island branch. There are segments featuring Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson working as plumbing technicians in their day jobs at Roto-Rooter in between paranormal investigations on the show.
In the 1980s, some Roto-Rooter franchises and company-owned locations began to offer around-the-clock service and general plumbing repair for both residential and commercial customers. Today, plumbing service represents approximately half of the company's business, while the other half is sewer and drain-cleaning work.
Roto-Rooter is a provider of plumbing and drain-cleaning services.
International franchise operations have been established in Canada,[5] South Africa, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Roto-Rooter Corporation, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, maintains a manufacturing plant, which produces Roto-Rooter tools and machinery for the plumbing and drain-cleaning industry. The company also produces two lines of commercial drain-care products.
2005 marked the company's 70th anniversary.
Employees of Roto-Rooter are mostly non-union. The CEO of Roto-Rooter Group is Spencer Lee. The CEO of Chemed Corporation, Roto-Rooter's parent company, is Kevin J. McNamara. The CFO of Chemed Corporation is David P. Williams. Charles Scavo is President of Roto-Rooter Corporation in West Des Moines. Rick Arquilla serves as President and COO of Roto-Rooter Services Company, based in Cincinnati, and appeared in an April, 2010 episode of the CBS reality show, "Undercover Boss".