Shaklee still growing at 50
Many scoffed at its multilevel marketing approach, but the company that sells natural supplements and cleaning supplies has its fansFifty years ago, during the era of synthetic fabrics, processed food and TV dinners, an Oakland chiropractor started a company to sell natural products to improve people's health. Even earlier, in 1915, before the concept of vitamins was widely understood, Dr. Forrest Shaklee had invented something called Vitalized Minerals.
Shaklee Corp., the company he founded, now operates in Pleasanton, selling vitamins and other nutritional supplements, natural makeup and biodegradable cleaning products through a multilevel marketing force of 750,000 distributors and members.
