Clock Guy Note: Lou Gazo was the first "clock guy" I ever met, back in 1971. At the time he lived and worked in an old Victorian house on First Street in the glide path of San Diego’s Lindberg Field. Every time a plane landed the whole house shook! It was Lou who repaired some of the first clocks we purchased, including the big tallcase clock that still adorns the entry of our home in Vista, CA. We have fond memories of him...
Lou Gazo had an interest in and collected clocks and while his son, Edward, was stationed in Germany as a member of the U.S. Air Force, Lou would send Ed money to purchase antique German clocks. Ed would buy the clocks and ship them home to his father who would repair, restore, and then sell the clocks. Lou Gazo and his wife, Cleo, relocated from Menlo Park, California, to San Diego, California, in 1971 where they lived in a colonial style home at First Avenue and Grape Street. The family lived upstairs while pursuing clock repairs and restoration as a hobby in the shop they had set up in the basement and garage of the house. Their hobby expanded by purchasing clocks from the Francis family, who owned a six-story import business and warehouse at Island Avenue and 6th Avenue in San Diego. In 1972, their purchases had exceeded the available space in their home and they rented a warehouse on Market Street to store the excess inventory. That same year, Ed was honorably discharged from the Air Force and returned to the San Francisco Bay area.
In 1973, Ed and his sister, Renee Gazo, relocated to San Diego and the family began to entertain the idea of forming a clock company. By this time, Lou was running the clock shop and attended to casework repairs and restoration and Ed worked on repairing the movements. However, they found it difficult to restore some of the ornate carvings that were found on some of the European clocks that they purchased as imports. Further, the family wanted to manufacture the entire clock and embellish the case with carvings as found on European style of clocks. So, in 1973 or 1974, the Gazo Family Clock Factory was formed and transformed the basement hobby clock shop into a family business with Lou and Cleo as the principals.
In 1974, Beto Martinez, a businessman from Mexico, approached the company and offered to provide skilled wood carvers. An agreement was reached with Creationes Internationale whereby workers would carve ornate patterns for the company’s clocks, rough assemble the cases in Mexico, and ship the cases to the Gazo factory in San Diego. In San Diego, the cases were fine finished, stained, the solid brass hardware was applied, and the movement was mounted. Case production outran the supply of movements and the company removed movements from older, dilapidated cases and used the movements in their own cases. Also that year, the company was approached by G. Jauch who proposed that the Gazo company to use Jauch movements in their clocks. An agreement was reached and the Jauch movements were soon in use by the Gazos.
In 1974 or 1975, the company was incorporated and the name was changed to The Gazo Family Clock Factory, Inc. Also about this time, the company was relocated from First and Grape streets to near the corner of 10th Avenue and G Street in San Diego. The company remained in this facility for about three years and continued to store cases and inventory there after relocating to National City. The company’s clock dials began as off-the-shelf items but eventually they became unique. Art Connors, a photo-etch lithographer, began to etch the company’s dials that were initially based on 16th Century art and designs. This proved to be very intricate and overly detailed so the company simplified the dial patterns. Eventually, the dial design was also etched into the weight tubes and pendulum bob. The Connor shop was located near the company’s 10th and G street facility.
In 1976 and 1977, the company reached its zenith. It had shops in Mexico manufacturing cases with elaborate woodcarvings and a sales team in Dallas, Texas, who marketed their clocks. The company managed to sell all of the models that they manufactured and were realizing sales of about $2.2 million dollars. However, the clock industry in general began a slow down turn and sales began to drop. In order for the customer to get more without raising prices, the company released its sales team. By this time, the company was also using Urgos and Kieninger movements in their clocks. The company also introduced a unique clock during this time. Following the hour strike, the mechanical mechanism tripped a battery powered music box mechanism that played its tune a single time and then stopped. The company sold the entire production run of this model. However, due to increasing expenses for materials and labor, the company needed additional capital by 1979. A Small Business Administration loan was secured and, as part of the loan agreement, a time and efficiency study was conducted. The study concluded that three-quarters of all manufacturing operations were losing money and, as a result, the prices of the clocks were increased. The clock industry, in general, continued its down turn and the company’s sales slipped more.
In 1978 or 1979, the company relocated to 26th Street in National City, near Interstate 5. The company was located in an industrial park and operated out of several sequential units within the complex. Each suite was set up to be a specific function in the production line. The company hired and trained workers for the cabinetwork and movement installation, as well as skilled clockmakers when they could be found.
In 1982, Lou Gazo retired and Ed Gazo became president of the company. Seeking more financial backing, Dr. Art Thomas and his wife, Judy, contributed money to the company by becoming partners. In 1983, Thomas, his wife and two sons purchased controlling interest in the company. The Thomas sons were trained in clock repair by Ed Gazo and Thomas assumed marketing and sales for the company. Up to 1986, the company’s clock cabinets were all unique, depending on the movement style. Starting in 1986, the company standardized their cabinets to accept any particular style of movement. However, sales continued to drop and in 1988, Ed Gazo, the remaining Gazo family member, left the company. In 1989, Art Thomas died and a few months later the factory ceased operations. The company manufactured no special orders and produced 10,000 standing, wall, and mantle clocks in 53 different models, as well as music boxes.
January 2007: Spoke with Lou and Cleo Gazo at their home in the mountains of Southern California. They are doing well in retirement. Thanks be to God, amen!
