Hecker Manufacturing Co., a shower door manufacturer in San Francisco, hired Rohde to help distribute its doors. With Hecker's approval, he used the name the company was using for its line of retail stores, “Basco” (short for “Bathroom Accessory and Supply Company), to start his own company that distributed bath enclosures east of the Mississippi. Shortly after opening its doors in Norwood, Ohio, Montgomery Ward selected Basco to be its exclusive supplier of shower doors for the company's catalog.