CHEERS TO A MILESTONE YEAR. Mason Companies' only retail store, located in C.F., is an area mainstay. Brad Atkinson, president of Mason Companies (pictured), talks new projects and more.

With 120 years of business with its roots settled into Chippewa Falls, Mason Companies, Inc., has become as much a part of the Chippewa Valley’s community fabric as any local institution could dream to. After more than a century, Mason Companies continues to dream bigger, and for the better.

The only Mason Companies retail store in the world is a Chippewa Falls mainstay. Its 301 N. Bridge St. building received an icon-worthy makeover in 2022, still host to its well-loved brands and products, now with a fresh modern look. This year, Mason Companies will welcome another makeover to a critical aspect of its operations: a brand new e-commerce platform and website.

“We want our interaction with customers while they’re on our website to offer an experience that is as frictionless as possible,” President Brad Atkinson explained. “We have high, high hopes for our new e-commerce platform: There’s a lot that goes on in the background of this kind of website that seems invisible to a user, and we’re anticipating it to rollout this summer or fall 2024.”

Atkinson is a newer face to the Mason Companies team, though certainly no stranger to the e-commerce business. After joining the family-owned business as CFO in September 2021, Atkinson hit the ground running. About one year later, the company’s board asked if he would hit the ground running, again, this time in a new position: interim President. He gladly accepted.

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THE WHOLE HISTORY OF MASON AND ITS SINCERE COMMITMENT TO ITS COMMUNITY AND CUSTOMERS IS DIFFERENT THAN ANY I'VE EXPERIENCED

with past organizations ... It's refreshing.

BRAD ATKINSON

PRESIDENT OF MASON COMPANIES INC.

“My background is primarily in finance, but because of the positions I have been in throughout my career previously, I had the ability to develop a very deep, keen understanding of the retail e-commerce model,” Atkinson said. “I spent a year as the interim President. In August of 2023, the board asked if I would step into a permanent role as President. Again, I gladly accepted.”

Inching up on one year as President, and two years filling the role, Atkinson said Mason Companies is not only surging ahead with strategic, thoughtful projects like its soon-to-come new website, but it is keeping in mind the community that has supported it for 120 years.

“The whole history of Mason – a family-owned company with true, deep roots in Chippewa Falls and the Chippewa Valley community – and its sincere commitment to its community and customers is different than any I’ve experienced with past organizations,” Atkinson said. “I’ve worked with public companies and private, equity-owned companies. Working with this family, at this company, is a different feeling entirely – it’s refreshing.”

“Mason has been operating for 120 years, and all of its ownership is committed to another 120-plus years. I am going to be one very small piece of that grand history, and I want to do what I can for the future of this organization,” he said.

"From a community perspective, we hope to let folks know there is so much more to Mason Companies than our staple retail store in downtown Chippewa Falls. We're sending 90 million catalogs per year; over 4 million packages every year; answering millions of phone calls and sending over one billion emails each year."
–Brad Atkinson, President of Mason Companies

Part of Mason Companies’ continued success and growth is the people who make it all work. By embracing a hybrid work environment, the company has full-time employees from about five different states who work fully remote; full- and part-time team members who enjoy a hybrid work schedule; and full- and part-time employees who work fully in-person. With that kind of flexibility, the business can hire and work with the right people to ensure its vast variety of services are top-notch.

“From a community perspective, we hope to let folks know there is so much more to Mason Companies than our staple retail store in downtown Chippewa Falls. We’re sending 90 million catalogs per year; over 4 million packages every year; answering millions of phone calls and sending over one billion emails each year,” he continued. “There’s a lot more to Mason and our brands than some may realize.”

Mason Companies continues to transform as an organization, aiming to be more digital tomorrow than it is today. Alongside its foundation of catalog success, there’s room for folks to join the company fabric. Get in touch with Mason today to see what opportunities are available.

Learn more about Mason Companies, Inc., at masoncompaniesinc.com. Visit its retail store at 301 N. Bridge St., Chippewa Falls.

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