General Shale

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General Shale, Inc. is a Johnson City, Tennessee-based builder of bricks and other building materials. It makes bricks, stone products, masonry solutions, concrete blocks, pavers and related architectural products. It is the North American subsidiary of Wienerberger, the Austrian brick maker.

History in brief: General Shale was formed in 1928 from the merger of Kingsport Brick Corporation (founded 1910) and Johnson City Shale Brick Corporation (founded 1920). Its first president was Sam R. Sells. The company grew by acquiring several brick and concrete producers and weathered the Great Depression with some factory foreclosures and a loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. In 1945 it added a concrete block factory that became very profitable. The 1950s brought further expansion, including a tunnel kiln in Knoxville and the addition of more brick and concrete plants. General Shale went public in 1960 and continued to acquire plants across the country through the 1960s and 1970s. The energy crisis of the late 1970s led to fuel-switch changes and plant downsizing, but sales rose in 1978 after the purchase of Chattahoochee Brick.

The company faced a tough early 1980s recession but recovered in the mid-1980s. In 1999 General Shale was acquired by Wienerberger, the world’s largest brick maker. Since then it has grown further with acquisitions such as Arriscraft (2007), Pipelife Jet Stream (PVC pipe) in 2016, and Columbus Brick in 2017. The 2021 purchase of Meridian Brick of Georgia doubled U.S. revenues. In 2024 Wienerberger expanded North American operations by purchasing Terreal, bringing Ludowici Roof Tile under General Shale’s umbrella, and by acquiring Summitville Tile in Ohio.