Bell, Jess

Jess Bell's legacy to Cleveland is one of beauty, health and commitment — to customers, employees and the community. As head of Bonne Bell Inc., Bell helped elevate the small company his father founded to one of the country's top cosmetics manufacturers, from which post it would have been ridiculously easy for Bell to move his Lakewood headquarters. But he didn't. 

Bell, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, once dreamed of a career in the military. He has scaled Kilimanjaro, run marathons and, long before it was considered good corporate relations, provided his employees an on-site fitness center. At age 71, Bell frequently walks the five-mile round trip from his Rocky River home to his office in Lakewood. 

Hardly the image one might have of a cosmetic company giant.

Since 1959, Bell has been at the helm of one of the country's most successful cosmetics companies, Bonne Bell Inc., founded in 1927 by Bell's father, Jesse G. Bell. By the time J.G. died in 1970, Bonne Bell's sales had topped $ 20 million, thanks in part to such immensely popular items as Ten-0-Six cleansing lotion and Lipsmackers. 

Jess, J.G.'s only son, recalls how his dad — "one of the hardest-working men I've ever known" — came to Cleveland. He'd been selling cosmetics door-to-door in Kansas when he realized that "it was usually a guy from Ohio who won the sales contest. He thought Ohio must be a salesman's paradise," Bell says. 

Research at the local library revealed that Cleveland was "the best location in the nation." So JG. Bell packed up wife, son and daughters - one of whom was the fledging company's namesake - in the summer of 1927 and drove east to Ohio. 

"He had a Jordan car and $500 to his name," Bell recalls. "He'd never been east of St. Louis." 

Bonne Bell's first corporate offices were located downtown at East 12th Street and Chester, but by 1933 had settled in one of Lakewood's oldest buildings, hugging the westernmost edge of town near what is now the Rocky River Bridge. 

Jess Bell, a graduate of Valley Forge Military Academy, World War II paratrooper and airborne infantry regiment commander in Korea, was initially lukewarm on the idea of joining his dad's business. "My first love was the military," he admits. "About the time I was getting out of Korea, in 1953, I was really tom about staying in the service, because I really loved it. But my parents and sisters prevailed on me to come home and work in the family business. 

"It was a good decision," he says. "I don't regret it now, but there were times when I longed for the exciting life of a military officer." Bell adds that to this day, his free time reading material of choice are books on military history. 

In 1972, Bell made another difficult, but ultimately life-saving, decision. He stopped drinking and started running, taking his inspiration from Olympic marathoner Frank Shorter — "I thought if he could run 26 miles, I ought to be able to run two miles." 

Julie Bell soon joined her husband in his athletic pursuits, which grew to include skiing and mountain climbing. Bell still exercises every day, although weak knees and knee surgery in 1995 have cut his running to only two or three times a week. 

Exercise, Bell says, "doesn't necessarily increase the quantity of your life, but it sure improves the quality. I'm a living example of that." 

The Bells preach what they practice: Bonne Bell's in-house fitness centers offers free weights, treadmills, stairclimbers, aerobics classes, lockers and showers. The Lakewood offices have long been smoke-free. Incentives are given to employees who exercise regularly, lose weight or quit smoking. 

"We try to set an example," Bell says. 

"It's very convenient for people to exercise because it's right there." He says it's not unusual for employees to pad around the office wearing sweats and tennis shoes. 

Bell laughs when he says he plans on living to be 100, but one is inclined to believe he can do it. Regardless of how long he's pounding the pavement, Bell says his greatest hope is that Bonne Bell remains a private, family-run company — an anomaly in the universe of cosmetics manufacturing. Bell's three sons (he also has one daughter) now work alongside their father. 

"Somebody called today, right out of the blue, and said 'Do you want to talk about selling your company?' " Bell says, "I said no, of course. That happens quite often. 

"You may not want to dance, but it's nice to be asked."