7/16/2026
by Victoria Ritter
For 73 years, Lee Products has aided those who work in classrooms and offices with a line of tried-and-true products. The family-owned and -operated company recently welcomed a third generation into its ranks.
Prior to founding Lee Products in 1973, Reynold A. Lee worked in banks along the East Coast, department stores in Minnesota and Hygenol where he worked with glycerin-based products. It was there that he realized that glycerin, when applied to his fingers, helped him sort through paper and money with ease.
Reynold developed Sortkwik, a glycerin ointment that acts as a fingertip grip enhancer, and sent samples to banks he had worked with. Word spread and demand grew for the non-greasy, non-toxic finger moistener. Lee Products launched with Sortkwik, followed by a handful of other office supplies.
Today, the business is still going strong. After the passing of Reynold, his wife Myrtle and son Reynold N. Lee took ownership. In recent months, his grandson Erik and Kathy Lee have come on board as Lee Products’ COO and sales manager, respectively. “Kathy and I have been at the business about a year now, so we had a lot to learn,” Erik said.
Stick to the good stuff
Lee Products primarily serves office spaces, yet it is slowly expanding into the education market. Its catalog consists of about a dozen products, with Sortkwik continuing to be the bestseller. In addition to fingertip moistener, the company offers its Flexifile expandable organizer, Tippi gel grips, a label dispenser, fingerprint ink pads and Clean-Ups premoistened wipes.
“Sortkwik was able to open up doors for this company to get into other products,” Erik said. “There have been competitors, but a lot of those competitors are no longer in business anymore. And Sortkwik withstood it all. It was still the number one fingertip moistener out there because of its decent price and name recognition.”
There are a couple products specifically designed for school use. Lee Product’s highlighter tape — both in rolls and Hefty tabs — come in handy for studying textbooks. The inspiration came when Erik’s dad and his business partner noted how students often highlighted and made notes in their school books. To avoid defacing the books while supporting students, the Lee Products team developed removable highlighter tape. Users can write notes on the tape and tabs, it shows up when scanned on a copy machine and it can easily be removed.
“It’s been very popular with the education market,” Erik said. “We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries, especially after our ad in Educational Dealer.”
Although Lee Products has kept its focus on its core products, Erik and his team are looking for opportunities to expand and market existing products in a new way. The company’s newest product is Sortkwik infused with aloe, which is the brainchild of Erik’s sister and CFO, Maren. Meanwhile, Kathy came up with a new tagline for Sortkwik. “We like to say that we’ve been replacing spit for 73 years,” Kathy said.
“Our kids have a couple different ideas that they think would be kind of neat,” Erik added. “It’s nice to hear from younger perspectives on what’s out there.”
Lee Products currently distributes mainly to wholesalers, but there is hope to reach out to independent retailers. As a former police officer and sales rep, Erik and Kathy value building trusting, lasting relationships with their customers.
“My dad tells me all the time about how they used to have personal relationships with end users and individual dealers,” Erik said. “You could have a conversation with people, actually talk to them, see what they like and what they don’t like, and hear their stories. That’s always a much better relationship than not knowing who you’re selling to. I’d like to get back to that. I’d like to build relationships.”
A dedicated team with a driving mission
The education supply market has seen multiple shifts through the years and several manufacturers have come and gone, but Lee Products is proudly standing strong thanks to its dedication to quality and relationships.
Lee Products is powered by a small, yet experienced team who know the trade. Of its 14 employees, nine have been with the company for at least 26 years and three have been there more than 30 years. “Consistency with our employees has really kept the quality great,” Erik stated.
When it comes to manufacturing, Erik makes a point to shop around for the best price on materials without compromising on quality. All of the raw materials are from the U.S., and most of the plastic components are made in-house at Lee Products. This approach has helped Lee Products to keep costs — as well as the end price — affordable.
Erik is proud to continue his grandfather’s legacy and work alongside his family. He especially enjoys seeing Lee Products’ creations in his travels.
“I want to maintain what we’ve had — good relationships with our customers and employees,” Erik observed.
