Ampro Industries, Inc. is an American ethnic hair care and cosmetics company based in Memphis, Tennessee. Ampro was founded in 1947. Its product lines include a wide range of styling and treatment products, specially formulated for ethnic consumers, including gels, shampoos, conditioners and polishers. The company’s original product line, PRO STYL gel, continues to be the number-one selling styling gel in the country. Ampro's 20 current brand names include Pro Styl, Clear Ice

Clear ice

Clear ice refers to a solid precipitation which forms when air temperature is between 0 °C and -3 °C and there are supercooled, relatively large drops of water...

 and Shine 'n Jam. Ampro's website can be found at http://www.Amprogel.com

The company's history began in 1947. Irvin Lansky, (no relation to Mayer Lansky) owned a dry goods store on Beale Street

Beale Street

Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are...

 in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, and began to sell ethnic hair care products. Immediately seeing the potential in the lines, Lansky formed Vogue Distributing Company, a beauty supply product wholesaler. Lansky then expanded the enterprise with a Memphis retail location called Vogue Beauty and Barber Mart, and it was here that he began manufacturing his own ethnic hair care products. He developed a line called "Ampro," short for American Products, which is still manufactured today. Ampro Industries' current manufacturing facility is a few miles away from the original shop on Beale Street in Memphis.

Lansky died in April 2001. His daughter, Cheri Rudner, is Chairman of Ampro, and her husband Henry is the company's Chief Executive Officer.

The company's products are sold through conventional channels (including health and beauty retailers such as Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

, Walgreen

Walgreen

Walgreen is the anglicised form of Wahlgren, and may refer to:* Charles Rudolph Walgreen* Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Jr.* The Walgreens, aka The Walgreen Company ** Walgreens Health Services , a business unit of Walgreens...

’s, Dollar General

Dollar General

Dollar General Corp. is a U.S. chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of January 2011, Dollar General operated over 9,300 stores in 35 U.S. states....

, Sally Beauty Supply

Sally Beauty Supply

Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. is an international speciality retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies with revenues of more than $2.6 billion annually....

, Kroger

Kroger

The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...

, Eckerd

Eckerd

Eckerd Corporation was an American drug store chain that was headquartered in Largo, Florida, and toward the end of its life, in Warwick, Rhode Island....

, CVS

CVS

CVS can refer to:* Computer-controlled Vehicle System, a personal rapid transit system developed in Japan* Convenience store -Computing:...

, Family Dollar

Family Dollar

Family Dollar is a regional chain of variety stores in the United States. It opened in 1959 and operates approximately 6,617 stores in 44 states and the District of Columbia. It is headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina....

 and Rite Aid

Rite Aid

Rite Aid is a drugstore chain in the United States and a Fortune 500 company headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania, near Camp Hill. Rite Aid is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast and the third largest drugstore chain in the U.S....

) as well as through a large network of individually owned regional beauty supply stores, both domestically and internationally.
The company continues to launch new product lines, including Olive Oil Gel, Shine 'N Jam Silk Edges, Beez Wax and is becoming increasingly involved in African-American community causes such as the National African American Photographic Archive, which it founded.