Our Story

1983 - Our Story Begins

What is known today as La Crosse Technology - A Family of Brands, has had quite the evolution over the years. So we invite you to join us over the course of the next few months, as we tell that story through the eyes of our founder, and current president, Allan McCormick. His likability, fearlessness and entrepreneurship, coupled with his passion for helping others, has made the company what it is today.

Starting in 1983, when stationed overseas serving in the US Army as a Military Police K9 handler, Allan had a request from his Aunt Kathy to find her a German grandfather clock. 于是,他开始了他的计时设备世界之旅,最终,他开始了气象技术之旅.

That simple request for a grandfather clock set the wheels in motion. Before long, Allan was importing clocks to the west coast, where he would load them into his vehicle and drive back cross-country to Minnesota, selling the clocks along the way. 卖钟赚来的钱足够支付往返的旅费,剩下的钱还可以再来一遍. The company truly began with a Dodge van and a vision.

1986 - Living on the Road

随着业务的增长,住在面包车里的新鲜感减少了,所以是时候升级了. Allan purchased a Winnebago Motor-home, pulling his mobile showroom/warehouse behind it, the "Minnie Winnie" became his new home and office. In 1987 Welcome Home magazine took notice and Allan was featured in an article about "Working Winnebago's"

1988 - Dreaming Downtown

随着业务的持续增长和现实的到来,是时候建立一些根基了. So the Minnie Winnie was sold, and Allan bought a building in historic downtown La Crosse, WI at 125 2nd St S. Thus beginning the journey of La Crosse Clock Co.

1988 - Vision Confirmed


A pre-cursor of what was to come, while attending the police academy in Alexandria, MN in the early 80's and then selling his clocks during the summer, Allan wandered into a local jewelry store looking for a main spring to repair a clock. What he found was a part-time job and confirmation of his vision. The knowledge learned while working at Diekman's Jewelry contributed to Allan's success selling clocks. In 1988, busy running a business and sales, he hired Horologist. Greg Townsend to provide an invaluable service. 这种合作至今仍然存在,我们很高兴地说,格雷格仍然是我们拉克罗斯大家庭的一员.


1991 - The "Big Dig"

As the business grew, it became apparent that a warehouse was needed, so the decision was made to dig out the basement of La Crosse Clock Co. location. 作为一名企业家,艾伦招募了一些大学生,让他们用5加仑的桶来铲土. 幸运的是,在威斯康辛大学拉克罗斯分校之间有很多可以招募的人, Western Technical College and Viterbo.

The "Bucket Brigade" affectionately referred to the project as the "Big Dig" named after the monstrous project underway in Boston, MA at the time. Always an adventure - one night while sandblasting the ceiling to get it clean, there was so much dust and debris flowing out of the building that the La Crosse Fire Department showed up responding to a fire call, full gear and hoses out! But in the end by digging down as far as they could, and then pouring cement, they created their own, much needed, usable space.

"Big Dig" image from GlobeFile/1999

1993 - River City Clock Company

While Allan had established the La Crosse Clock Co. business, he wasn't content to stop there. Through his travels wth the buseinss he met Jeff Marden from St. Louis, MO and forged the River City Clock Co that specialized in Cuckoo Clocks.

1994 - Part 1 - E.Howard & CO

Allan's strong belief in quality and tradition made the acquisition of Boston's own E. Howard & Co. and easy decision. Here he focused primarily on the clock side of the business. Established in 1842, E. Howard & Co. is still featured in the Smithsonian and the National Museum of American History as it is considered to be the oldest clock manufacturer in America.

1994 - Part 2 - Creative Advertising

1994 was a busy year for La Crosse Clock Co. In addition to the purchase of E. Howard & Co., Allan also founded Infinity Instruments with Janusz Erlichman, purchased a former roller skating rink in La Crescent, MN - turning the building into offices and warehouse space. 他还忙着在许多出版物上展示他的“草根”广告形式——他的无人驾驶热气球.

1995 - The Heartbeat of the Home


"A clock adds an aura to a home. One woman told me it became the heartbeat of her home." -Allan

1996 - Part 1 - Hourglasses on the rise

The late nineties played host to one of the most controversial trials in US history, the one involving NFL superstar: OJ Simpson. This month actually marks the 22nd anniversary of the televised trial, which featured Judge Ito’s famous hourglass timepiece, a timepiece that inspired Allan to create one of his own. Produced using wood bases from a US factory and glass and sand imported from England, the Hourglass Clock was a challenge to keep in stock.

1996 - Part 2 - The Changing Times

这一年,无线电控制时间(原子时)的引入改变了美国市场的计时方式。. On the market for years in Europe, 艾伦成为美国官方销售代理的无线电控制钟表和介绍 WWVB to America. Under La Crosse McCormick, the first atomic wristwatch from Wittnauer by Junghans was sold, the watch was a limited to run of 1,000 pieces, made of solid titanium, and retailed at $999.95. This year also saw the start of the La Crosse Clock Co. 工厂,它生产了许多时钟设计与所有的木外壳制造的 John Pitts.

1999 - The birth of la crosse technology

1999年,当艾伦与Rolf Haupt和Manfred Wu合作时,La Crosse科技公司诞生了,该公司利用美国工厂制造了用于放置原子钟运动的木外壳.

2000 - Expansion

With an expanding inventory, Allan purchased a new warehouse in Spring Grove, MN. 包括在不断增长的库存是我们的第一个拉克罗斯技术品牌无线预报站, the WS-7054, a model that still exists in a newer form today. 在不断变化的科技世界和消费者消费的新进步中,我们继续开发新欧博体育官网以满足客户的需求, this will be evident in the months to come.

2001 - A Trademark Look is Born

While on a sales call at Frontgate, a suggestion was made to create a digital wall clock with wood side panels. Already doing wood manufacturing in the US for grandfather clocks, 艾伦追求这种风格的外观,创造了许多版本,将成为一个商标畅销 digital wall clocks for La Crosse Technology. The local manufacturing of the wood side panels was what set these clocks apart, 这种情况持续了很长一段时间,直到我们的海外工厂能够复制类似的外观和质量.


In addition to the birth of a trademarked look, this year La Crosse Technology begin working as a distributor for Equity, a clock wholesaler that sold SkyScan alarm clocks and wall clocks, forging a relationship that has evolved over the years and still exists today.

2002 - 1 million sold!

2002年,欧博体育官网公司的数字原子钟销量超过100万台! 当然,这是一个不可思议的里程碑,但这并没有阻止我们在未来几年提高标准.

2004 - Ends and Beginnings

在与河城布谷鸟时钟合作10多年后,艾伦的公司股份回到了杰夫马登,使他的努力集中在 La Crosse Technology and a new adventure. La Crosse Technology entered into a licensing arrangement with The Weather Channel to produce weather stations, digital atomic clocks, thermometers, and rain gauges branded with The Weather Channel logo. To no ones’ surprise, these products began appearing on retail shelves everywhere. “天气频道的巨大知名度和信任因素为我们高性能的天气准备设备增添了相当大的吸引力. 将这些品牌欧博体育官网扩展到全国零售商将大大增加他们对消费者的曝光率. And this proved to be true, with Best Buy,Bass Pro Shops, and the May Department Stores among the biggest retails to jump on board, The Weather Channel branded products were a huge success.

2006 - A Major Move

欧博体育官网公司正式迁入拉克罗斯南区的现址, WI. This was a large but necessary undertaking, as it brought the executive offices, customer support, sales, graphics, warehousing, and research & development all under one roof. 几年后,我们把市中心的零售业务拉克罗斯钟表公司搬到了这里. to this location as well, bringing all our US operations together.

2008 - A Bump in the Road

2008年,全球首个由互联网驱动的个人天气系统Weather Direct推出. This turned out to be our first major failure, and led to a technically bankrupt balance sheet for the company. 根据艾伦的说法,“我们从来没有被告知我们已经破产了,所以我们只是继续经营.员工减薪,供应商同意延长条款,以维持梦想和公司的运转. In retrospect, the product was ahead of its time. Smartphones and mobile devices were not what they are today, 因此,信息在指尖触摸的概念并没有出现在消费者的脑海中.

2009 - A Joint Venture begins

2009 was the year we began our joint venture with Equity Industries Corp., a subsidiary of Chiaphua 总部位于香港,这家公司的钟表制造历史可以追溯到20世纪60年代. 就在这一年,欧博体育官网公司从他们欧博体育官网的经销商转变为经销商, to a partner. The brand was henceforth known as Equity by La Crosse.

2010 - A Move and the NIST

Equity的仓库从加州搬到了威斯康星州拉克罗斯的现址. We also began working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology during this year, who was able set up a signal testing chamber right on our company campus, all in an effort to help develop our UltrAtomic clock. 欧博体育官网公司仍然是美国唯一一家拥有这种政府官方设备的私营公司.

2013 - La Crosse Alerts is launched

我们推出了我们的监测系统La Crosse Alerts,它允许消费者通过使用互联网和后来的La Crosse Alerts移动应用程序来保持他们自己的微环境的最新状态. The year also saw a cold snap, similar to what many states are experiencing today, 12月9日,La Crosse Technology受邀参加了美国国家橄榄球联盟(NFL)周一晚上的橄榄球比赛,当时达拉斯牛仔队(Dallas Cowboys)在芝加哥迎战芝加哥熊队(Chicago Bears), IL. 我们为NFL提供了一个欧博体育官网的天气系统,在比赛期间为播音员提供最新的现场情况.

2015 - A Rebirth of a Brand

收购日内瓦时钟公司的装饰时钟库存带来了公司和艾伦回到时钟制造的根源. Though we had never lost the La Crosse Clock Co. 品牌,收购日内瓦当然被视为这方面的业务的复活. Believe it or not, 这次合并是艾伦和日内瓦的品牌经理在5分钟的谈话中讨论出来的, Susan Sequin.

2018 - A View into the past brings us to the present
Moving into the future

Well, this brings us up to date, and we’ve truly enjoyed sharing our journey with you over the past few months. But our story definitely doesn’t end here. This week at CES we've officially launched our newest line of innovative Connected Weather Stations, 使用我们新的拉克罗斯视图应用程序提供几乎无限数量的监控解决方案. For more information about these new stations, please visit our website here: http://www.b-mobtech.com/products/monitoring-view or continue to follow us here on Facebook for updates and other company news. 再次感谢你成为欧博体育官网大家庭的一员,很高兴你能来.