Stories

Founding General Foam Plastics

Published 2022-01-23

Engineers and previous Cornell University roommates, Burk Zanft and Ascher Chase, would lease a 1,500 sq ft Portsmouth, VA warehouse in 1957 from Zanft family friend Leon Cardon, owner of Star Band. The newly formed General Foam Plastics Corporation, making its money in styrofoam pipe insulation and styrofoam pool toys, would quickly outgrow its first home—and in 1963 moved to a new warehouse in the neighboring city of Norfolk[0].

This new warehouse was approximately 100,000 sq ft—and cheap. Its former tenet, a lawn mower manufacturer supported by the city, went bust—leaving the city with an expensive, and empty facility. In a phone interview, Ascher Chase recalls the “deal was so ridiculous we couldn’t believe it”. General Foam Plastics would continue to expand the warehouse from its original 100,000 sq ft to 320,000 sq ft in 1970 to 500,000 sq ft in 1980. But for a growing General Foam Plastics, who would have factories and warehouses throughout the United States within the decade, this was only the start.