Master Lock
Master Lock is the classic American “padlock brand” - the one that’s been on job sites, school lockers, garage doors, and storage units for so long it’s basically part of the urban landscape. The company was founded in 1921 by locksmith-inventor Harry Soref in the Milwaukee area, built around his breakthrough laminated steel padlock design: strong, affordable, and mass-producible — the security industry’s equivalent of discovering fire, but with more rivets.
What they’re known for is broad “portable security” rather than door hardware:
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Padlocks (keyed, combination, weather-resistant, heavy-duty)
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Lock boxes / key safes (mechanical and Bluetooth variants for managed access)
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Safes and security storage (varies by market, often alongside their lockbox line)
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Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) safety products for industrial settings (a big part of their professional footprint)
Ownership / group: Master Lock is a subsidiary within Fortune Brands Innovations’ security portfolio (the same broader group that also houses other security brands).