By DON SHILLING

By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
AUSTINTOWN -- Zim himself would be very pleased at what has happened to Zim's Crack Creme, say those who knew him best.
The original healing lotion, developed in 1946 in Austintown by the late Walter Zimmerman, has been turned into a mass-market product with national distribution by Bob Roth, who was a young apprentice of Zimmerman's in the 1940s.
Sales are so strong that the product is sold in every Walgreens store in the country.
Now, Roth's company, Perfecta Products of Berlin Center, has added a formula for diabetics, a lip balm and its first product that isn't a cream or lotion -- an $80 gizmo that melts insulin needles into a tiny pellet that's safe to dispose.
To show off these products, Roth and Zimmerman's widow, Betty, were at the new Walgreens on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown on Friday.
"He's looking down on us right now," Mrs. Zimmerman started to say.
"He would be thrilled," said Roth, finishing her sentence.
"Oh, wouldn't he," Zimmerman added.
Roth and Zimmerman handed out free samples of Zim's Crack Creme products to shoppers.
History
Roth said Perfecta Products, approached Walgreens about coming to the store because it is on the site of Walter Zimmerman's original store, Austintown Pharmacy. He operated the pharmacy there from 1945 until 1952, when he moved across the street.
It was at that store that he developed the original formula for a product he called Cement Workers' Lotion. Roth was a 15-year-old apprentice at the time.
Zimmerman later moved to Arizona and opened a store there. Mrs. Zimmerman, who is a pharmacist like her late husband, said the lotion was just as popular there.
Zimmerman would see someone in the pharmacy with rough skin and make them up a batch of the lotion, she said. They would love the product and come back for more, she said.
About 10 years ago, Zimmerman began calling Roth, asking him to find a way to mass produce the product.
"Finally, to shut him up, I started working on it," Roth said.
It wasn't easy, but Roth said that every time he was frustrated and ready to give up, Zimmerman would call and encourage him to keep at it. Zimmerman died just before the product came to market.
What's ahead
Perfecta Products of Berlin Center, and a sister company, Berlin Industries, now employ about 20. Berlin makes veterinary products for horses.
Roth said the company will come out with one or two more new products next year, although he wouldn't disclose what they would be.
shilling@vindy.com