(Editor’s note: This is the 22nd installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the economy and, in many cases, our way of life. See previous installments here.)
Manufacturing companies typically have two options when planning strategy: compete within the corporate-dominated mass market or carve out a niche brand relying on name recognition and high-quality products.
Jeff Caruso, owner of Providence-based board game manufacturer Crisloid Inc., approached this fork in the road and went straight, positioning the company as a profitable and worldwide gaming supplier focused on durability.
It was not without some bumps along the way. After joining Crisloid in 1998, Caruso purchased both the building and company in 2008, which would have been a gamble during normal economic times.
“I bought it two days before the market crashed,” he said. “I made the biggest purchase of my life. And the economy fell off a cliff. The next three years was the biggest learning curve in my business career still to this day.”
Caruso transitioned Crisloid from wholesaling to vendors across the country to going exclusively direct-to-consumer.
“I got rid of hundreds of retail partners we had been working with for decades,” he said. “It was a sad departure. But we started to really dig in and get back to our roots. And eventually clawed back to being one of the most well-respected brands in the industry.”
Now with 15 full-time employees, Crisloid staff members labor in the original 25,000-square-foot facility, making hand-crafted board games, including checkers, mahjong and dominoes.
The company also refurbishes its older models. Caruso points proudly to a leather-cased backgammon set sold more than 50 years ago.
“The owner’s grandfather taught him how to play and now has it,” he said.
[caption id="attachment_470177" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
BEAUTIFUL BOARDS: Crisloid Inc. owner Jeff Caruso shows off some of the company’s backgammon game boards. He bought the company and its building in 2008, 10 years after he joined the Providence board game manufacturing company.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
In the casting room, employee Alex Wroe works in a single room that looks like a Jackson Pollack studio, pouring 55-gallon drums of resin into 1-gallon containers.
The thermal-sealed resin starts as a liquid and ends in a solid, the result of a chemical heat-causing reaction, to form the game pieces. Then it’s to the tubes – either multicolored or unicolored depending on if the pieces are marbled – from a simple ramp set off to the side.
Next step is the diamond-bladed cutting wheel to shape the pieces, and then the tumbler before finally going into a wooden-polish barrel for 24 hours.
“It takes out imperfections,” Caruso said. “They go in pretty dull and come out with a real high shine.”
Other than a recent $100,000 capital expenditure to purchase a new printer that does automatic design customization, most of the equipment in the Crisloid facility is older than Caruso. In the woodworking section, piled high with Northeast pine, is a table saw that pre-dates World War I.
“I’ll never replace that,” he said. “Just keep it fresh with a good motor.”
Asked if he feared that selling expensive high-end products built to last could lead to Crisloid running out of customers, Caruso said he wasn’t concerned.
“It is not consumable. But we have a lot of repeat customers. They tend to buy one for themselves and they love it,” he said. “And we hear from them again because they want one for a wedding or a graduation.”
Caruso said that 2023 was the company’s most successful year and he expects that will be outpaced in 2024. He declined to disclose annual revenues.
While the COVID-19 pandemic put many manufacturers out of business or made them shift to making medical equipment, Crisloid never missed a beat. Lockdowns led to a spike in the popularity of board games, a trajectory that is still on the rise, Caruso said.
“People were home. And they were bored and buying games. We were already in a growth phase. Then we had a waitlist throughout the country,” Caruso said.
And there has been a pushback against the digital age in the consumer culture. What’s old is new again. Just look at sales of vinyl records.
“Everyone you know has had a lifetime on a tablet or phone,” Caruso said. “Now it’s becoming just as cool to sit around and play some dice, have a cocktail and tell a story.”
Crisloid’s customer base has expanded.
“Three years ago, I would have given a much different answer. Most buyers were 40 to 70 years old,” Caruso said. “Now it’s 20 to 70. A lot of our newer customers are younger. It runs the whole gamut.”
Crisloid’s roots date back to 1948 in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Caruso’s great uncles, Alphonse Lodato and Lucky Lodato, launched a backgammon company that centered its reputation on high-quality craftsmanship.
By 1960, the pair sold the company to Crisloid Products, a Providence injection-molding outfit. Caruso’s uncle, Jerry Caruso, followed the business to Rhode Island and became general manager.
[caption id="attachment_470080" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
GAME ON: Marlene Lopez works on the shop floor of Providence board game manufacturer Crisloid Inc.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
Other than launching the latest product – a run of backgammon units lined with casino-grade felt – the company isn’t planning any major changes.
“We just want people who want to come to work but want to come work for us,” Jeff Caruso said. “That’s what sets us apart.”
Lead designer Marci Szurley began at Crisloid 11 years ago with an entry-level position. Now her son works there, too.
“I have another employee now running the workshop who was in two or three other departments before he found his sweet spot,” said Caruso, who added that prioritizing flexibility for his staff has helped retain good talent.
“If you have to be a clock puncher, people are disheartened by that,” he said. “That is something I have learned in business. Take care of your employees.”
Crisloid is well known in the professional board game circuits as well, from the mahjong world championships in Las Vegas to several tournaments on the American backgammon tour.
“We are hitting a nice stride right now. We put ourselves in a position where we can look ahead, 12 to 18 months,” he said. “Our brand is recognized internationally. The future is bright.”
And this industry has another benefit not enjoyed by makers of walking canes or prosthetic gums.
“The customer is excited to receive the product,” Caruso said. “This is not a high-stress place. We make games for a living.”
