The La Crosse Clock Co. Story

A member of the La Crosse Technology family of brands, La Crosse Clock Co. is a company shaped by decades of innovation and entrepreneurship. Its story begins with founder and first president Allan McCormick, whose vision laid the foundation for the brand we know today.

Allan McCormick with his sons Jack and Calway.

Some companies start with a business plan. This one started with a favor. In 1983, Allan McCormick was stationed overseas when his Aunt Kathy asked him to bring home a German grandfather clock. He found one. Then he found a few more, and before long, he was driving clocks across the country in a van, selling enough along the way to pay for the next trip out.

By 1988, the van had done all it could do. Allan bought a building in historic downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin, and La Crosse Clock Co. finally had an address. The storefront offered grandfather clocks and other fine timepieces, and that same year, Allan hired a horologist named Greg Townsend to oversee the movements and keep things moving. Greg no longer practices, but he is still part of the La Crosse team today.

That storefront laid the groundwork for everything that followed. Behind the counter, Allan learned that a clock adds an aura to a home. We've heard a lot of kind words since then, but one has stuck with us longer than the rest. A customer told Allan her timepiece had become the heartbeat of the house. That's still the whole idea. It's what makes us, well, tick.

In 1994, Allan acquired the clock side of E. Howard & Co., the Boston clockmaker founded in 1842 and considered the oldest clock manufacturer in America. More partnerships followed, with makers of everything from cuckoo clocks to basic alarms, including a long relationship with Equity that started with warehousing and distribution and eventually brought the brand into the La Crosse family of brands.

Then came Geneva. Acquiring its decorative clock line in 2015 brought the company back to its clock manufacturing roots. La Crosse Clock Co. had never gone away, but this was the rebirth of the brand and the start of the line we make today.

Today, that means wall clocks, tabletop clocks, and analog clocks in a wide range of designs and materials, made for the rooms where people actually live and work.

In May 2022, the company that began as a favor to family became a family business in the fullest sense when Allan's twin sons, Jack and Calway McCormick, came on as part owners alongside him.

If you ever find yourself in downtown La Crosse, maybe for Oktoberfest, the original La Crosse Clock Co. storefront at 125 2nd Street South is now home to Turtle Stack Brewery, a local favorite. The old building is keeping good time without us.