He was the right man at the time. During his teenage years Aaron Fish helped support his family by selling key blanks to hardware stores in Montreal Canada. The story of how Aaron Fish moved from delivering key blanks by bicycle to worldwide ownership of many famous companies in the security field is narrated in a new book titled "Under Lock & Key," the Unican story.
This book will be interesting reading for anyone involved in the lock business. Names like Keil, Lockwood, Independent Lock Co. (ILCO), Simplex, Star, Sagar, Dominion, Dynation, Taylor, Orion, CEA, Precision Products, AWI, Marlock, Relhor, Curtis, Silca, HK, Lori, Mas-Hamilton, Mauer and Axxess Technologies are lock-related names familiar to everyone in the lock business, and which Aaron Fish acquired during his career. Add to this the names of countless other businesses associated with the security field such as Techmire, Diston plus Meriden Rolling Mills (MRM) and you get a feeling for the important role Aaron Fish played during his 50+ years at the helm of what came to be known as Unican.
'Self-made man' correctly fits Aaron Fish. His path to success was long, arduous, and never boring. Every interesting detail is explained in his book. Each chapter in the book details a short period of years. Chapters dedicated to the time from 1949 to 1980 read like an exciting novel and show Mr. Fish as he is bent on success but also juggling the constant pressures of financing his ventures and maintaining cash flow.
Aaron Fish succeeded by finding a need and developing a product to meet that need. As example there was once a request for an identity card which required an internal power source. He purchased a company which was developing a type of miniature battery. The identity card idea was eventually dropped but the miniature batteries are now used in hearing aids. Another example was when telephone companies wanted locksets which could be used in uninhabited locations. Aaron Fish added Simplex push button chambers to Dominion mortise locksets and filled the telephone company order.
Chapters describing the years from 1980 to 2001 show a man who had consolidated his companies into a profitable, cohesive force. Additional company acquisitions between approximately 1980 and 2000 either filled a need or provided for a greater share of a market segment.
One person could not have achieved the success of Unican by himself. Throughout the book Aaron fish gives ample accolades to the many people who either helped finance or helped run the many Unican enterprises around the world.
Aaron Fish sold Unican to Kaba Holdings in 2001. In the book epilogue, Arron Fish wrote, "..its not speed that kills, but it's the sudden stop." He does not plan to stop any time soon. Aaron and his wife have created the Aaron and Wally Fish Family Foundation to provide scholarships to mechanical engineering students who are attending college either in Montreal or Israel.
For information on ordering this book, contact:
A.M. Fish Holdings Ltd., 26 Briardale Road, Hampstead, Quebec H3X 3N6, Canada.
Telephone: 514-788-0788
