Quill Corporation

Last updated

Quill Corporation
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Founded1956;68 years ago (1956)
Headquarters Lincolnshire, Illinois, U.S.
Key people
Mark Roszkowski
Products Office supplies
Parent Staples Inc. (1998–present)
Website www.quill.com
Quill headquarters Quill building.jpg
Quill headquarters

Quill Corporation is an American office supply retailer, founded in 1956, and headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois. A wholly owned subsidiary of Staples, Quill serves more than one million small and mid-sized U.S. business customers, [1] with access to over one million assorted products.

Contents

While over 70% of sales are conducted online, [2] it also employs mail-order and direct sales models. Although it engages in business-to-business direct markets of office supplies in the United States, it also sells products in other sectors such as technology, cleaning & breakroom supplies, furniture, safety products, and professional medical equipment through its Quill Healthcare unit. Between 1998 and 2009, Quill grew from $500 million in revenues to over $1 billion. It employs approximately 500 people and has twelve distribution centers. The president of the Staples subsidiary is Mark Roszkowski. [3]

History

Jack Miller (middle), the founder, with his older brother Arnold (left) and younger brother Harvey (right) in the early days of Quill Corporation. Img006 web.jpg
Jack Miller (middle), the founder, with his older brother Arnold (left) and younger brother Harvey (right) in the early days of Quill Corporation.

Quill Corporation was the outgrowth of an idea by Jack Miller. [4] In 1956, with a loan of $2,000 from Jack's father-in-law Quill's first office was established in the back room of Miller's father's poultry shop on the north side of Chicago. [5] Initially lacking retail experience, the young entrepreneur relied heavily on his face-to-face selling techniques to drive revenue. With the assistance of Jack's brother Harvey, the two evolved their marketing strategies to include mail-order campaigns that enticed potential customers with substantially discounted prices and free shipping - transforming Quill Corporation into one of the first mail-order [6] companies in the United States. In 1974, Quill reported annual sales of $3.5 million. In 1986, the company's revenues amounted to $180 million. Its mail-order business was the most successful within the office supplies market, with more than 40 million catalogues and flyers sent to a customer base of approximately 600,000 businesses and organizations, and listing more than 9,000 various office supplies and products. In 1996, the company launched the website Quill.com. In 1998, Quill Corporation was acquired by Staples, Inc. for approximately $685 million. Jack Miller utilized funds from the sale of Quill to create the Jack Miller Center., [7] a non-profit that promotes the teaching of America's founding principles and history. [8]

Online

The domain quill.com attracted at least one million visitors annually by 2008, according to a Compete.com survey. [9] Quill Corporation launched a Quill coupons page in 2014 to help customers find even better deals on the site. A blog has also been created, Cafe Quill aimed to start conversations with small to medium-sized businesses about workplace leadership, business trends, productivity, and a special section called kindness corner to highlight stories about businesses doing great things in the community. Quill Ideas was developed in 2014 to give their customers a way to share thoughts and ideas that can make their workday easier and help enhance their experience with Quill. In 2016, Quill has launched its rewards program, QuillPlus, with two membership tiers, blue and gold.

Community

Quill will continue its participation in the 15th annual “WGN-TV Back-to-School Kids Fair." [10] An event that Quill has been a part of since 2010. This event provides needed supplies to Chicago school children. In addition to supplies, there are services like haircuts & eye exams for the kids as well as food, fun and games. Quill participates and passes out 1500 backpacks and supplies.

In April 2014, the Orlando Magic and Quill partnered together to give back to the community in Orlando, Florida. Quill awarded the Magic Educator of the Year, Zach Darnell, $10,000 dollars in Quill cash in order to help Zach purchase school supplies for his classroom and students. Along with this Quill awarded six other teachers, who were deemed teachers of the month, $500 in Quill cash throughout the year. [11] In February 2015, Quill again partnered with the Orlando Magic, this time to work together and give back directly to the youth of Central Florida. Together the Magic and Quill refurbished the computer lab at the James R. Smith Community Center. Quill provided the community center with new desks and all their technological needs such as monitors, keyboards, and computers. [12]

Dunder Mifflin campaign

Dunder Mifflin company logo Dunder Mifflin, Inc.svg
Dunder Mifflin company logo

In 2011, Quill launched a Dunder Mifflin brand of copy paper from the popular NBC sitcom, The Office . It was ranked in the top five products sold in 2012. Because of the popularity, Quill added the Dunder Mifflin brand on a variety of products from sticky notes, to notepads, to storage boxes. A majority of the products have a special, Dunder Mifflin feature to them that makes them unique. For example, the notepads allow you to mark if your coworkers are alert, asleep, or doing crosswords. The promotion is largely considered a success, as the Dunder Mifflin product line experienced double digit growth year after year. NBC keeps 6% of the revenue from Dunder Mifflin sales. [13]

Acquisitions

On April 7, 1998 Staples, Inc. issued a press release indicating plans to acquire Quill Corporation for a purchase price of $685 million in a combination of about 30 million fixed and variable priced shares. The acquisition will aid Staples increase its presence in the office products market due in part to Quill’s success in the sales of office supplies to businesses, an area which previously accounted for only 20 percent (about $1 billion) of Staples’ total revenue in 1997. [14] After the transaction Quill will retain its headquarters in Lincolnshire, Ill. along with its name and management. [7] [5] In July 2002, Medical Arts Press became a subsidiary of Quill when Staples, Inc. purchased the Minneapolis-based company for $385 million. Since 1950, Medical Arts Press has helped healthcare practices meet their unique front-office supply needs. [15] Medical Arts Press carries the industry's largest selection of specialty filing and general office supplies, 100% government-compliant forms, code books, office furnishings, imprinted patient communication and giveaways, ink and toner, breakroom supplies and more. [16] [17] [18]

In addition to the acquisition of Medical Arts Press, Quill also obtained SmileMakers and Hayes Marketing Inc. (HMI). Both provide creative products to help build patient loyalty and promote practices with giveaway items, promotional postcards, greeting cards and more.

Tagline

In 2014, Quill's "A small part of your job is 100% of ours." branding campaign was launched. In conjunction with the expansion of Quill's product assortment, the goal of the campaign is to show that Quill is a supplier of all products a business needs and highlight that they even offer specialty products for retail, foodservice, education, industrial and hospitality businesses.

Timeline

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scholastic Corporation</span> American publishing company

Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. Products are distributed via retail and online sales and through schools via reading clubs and book fairs. Clifford the Big Red Dog, a character created by Norman Bridwell in 1963, serves as Scholastic's official mascot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Best Buy</span> American multinational consumer electronics retailer

Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebranded under its current name with an emphasis on consumer electronics in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office Depot</span> American office supply holding company

Office Depot, Inc. is an American office supply retailer headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company operates 1,400 retail stores in the United States under the Office Depot and OfficeMax brands, as well as e-commerce sites and a business-to-business sales organization. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 people in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staples Inc.</span> American multinational office supply retailing corporation

Staples Inc. is an American office supply retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Harry and David, LLC is an American-based premium food and gift producer and retailer. The company sells its products through direct mail, online, corporate gifting, and in their flagship location in Medford, Oregon, and operates the brands Harry & David, Wolferman's, and Vital Choice. Harry & David was founded in 1910 by Samuel Rosenberg as Bear Creek Orchards in Medford, Oregon, as a premium fruit company. As of 2014, it is owned by 1-800-Flowers.com.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graybar</span> American electronics distribution company

Graybar Electric Company, Inc. is an American wholesale electrical, communications and data networking products distribution business, which also supplies related supply-chain management and logistics services. Based in Clayton, Missouri, the employee-owned corporation is included on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staples Business Advantage</span>

Staples Business Advantage is the contract division of Staples Inc., providing a membership program for office products, technology products, facilities supplies and breakroom supplies to businesses and institutions. Established in 1993 as Staples Contract and Commercial, the division was rebranded as Staples National Advantage and Staples Business Advantage in 1995. In 2008, Staples acquired Corporate Express, expanding its contract offering to a global market. In 2009, this division was rebranded as Staples Advantage.

Esselte is a manufacturer and marketer of office products and business supplies with subsidiaries in 25 countries and sales in over 120 countries. Esselte makes files, binders, folders, covers, staplers, letter trays and computer accessories under the Esselte, Leitz, Oxford, Pendaflex, Rapid and Xyron brands. Customers range from wholesalers and direct marketers to office superstores and mass retailers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essendant</span> American office supply distributor

Essendant, formerly known as United Stationers, is a national wholesale distributor of office supplies, with consolidated net sales of $5.3 billion. Essendant stocks over 160,000 items, including traditional office products, office furniture, janitorial and break room supplies, and technology products. Essendant is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, and also has operations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunder Mifflin</span> Fictional paper company from U.S. TV series The Office

Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. is a fictional paper and office supplies wholesale company featured in the American television series The Office. It is analogous to Wernham Hogg in the British original of the series, and Papiers Jennings and Cogirep in the French Canadian and French adaptations, respectively. Originally, the company was completely fictitious, but eventually, the brand was used to sell products at Staples and other office supply outlets.

NCH Corporation is an international marketer of maintenance products. It is one of the largest companies in the world to sell such products through direct marketing channels. NCH has several wholly owned subsidiaries, some of them in the maintenance products business.

Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992), was a United States Supreme Court ruling, since overturned, concerning use tax. The decision effectively prevented states from collecting any sales tax from retail purchases made over the Internet or other e-Commerce route unless the seller had a physical presence in the state. The ruling was based on the Dormant Commerce Clause, preventing states from interfering with interstate commerce unless authorized by the United States Congress. The case resulted from an attempt by North Dakota seeking to collect sales tax on licensed computer software offered by the Quill Corporation, an office supply retailer with no North Dakota presence, that allowed users to place orders directly with Quill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Home Depot Pro</span> U.S. wholesale distributor

The Home Depot Pro, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, is a wholesale distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products for non-industrial businesses in the United States. The Home Depot Pro distributes products such as HVAC, janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, and security supplies.

Pendaflex is a maker of office filing products headquartered in Melville, New York, United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of TOPS Products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PSS World Medical</span> Distributor of medical products

PSS World Medical, Inc. was an American distributor of medical products, equipment, billing services and pharmaceutical related products to non-hospital healthcare providers. In 2008, the company celebrated its 25th year in business and was named to Forbes 400 Best Big Companies list for the second time. In 2013, the company was purchased by the McKesson Corporation and dissolved. The organization also ranked number 965 on the 2008 Fortune 1000 list of largest businesses, up from 980 the prior year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acme United Corporation</span> American scissors manufacturer

Acme United Corporation is a supplier of cutting, measuring and safety products for the school, home, office, hardware and industrial markets. The company was organized as a partnership in 1867 and incorporated in 1873 under the laws of the State of Connecticut. It is publicly traded on the NYSE Mkt with symbol ACU.

Foster & Smith, Inc. was an American mail order and e-commerce pet supply corporation based in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The company funds PetEducation.com, a "resource for any pet owner who is seeking information."

In National Bellas Hess v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, 386 U.S. 753 (1967), the Supreme Court ruled that a mail order reseller was not required to collect sales tax unless it had some physical contact with the state.

Bunchball provides a cloud-based software as a service gamification product intended to help companies improve customer loyalty and online engagement using game mechanics. Bunchball was founded by Rajat Paharia in 2005 and has raised $17.5 million in funding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office supply retailing</span>

Office supply retailing is the commercial trade of stationery and other office supplies.

References

  1. ↑ "Quill Corporation | Revenue and Financial Reports - D&B; Hoovers". Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Quill Corporation|Company Profile". Vault.com. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ "About Us - Leadership". Quill. Retrieved December 7, 2022.[ self-published source ]
  4. ↑ "Quill Corporation History". Funding Universe. 1999. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "History of Quill Corporation". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Mail Order". Encyclopedia of Chicago. 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 "Staples to Buy Quill in $685-Million Stock Deal - latimes". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Jack Miller Center for Teaching America's Founding Principles and History". Guidestar.org. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  9. ↑ "quill.com UVs for December 2015". Archived from the original on February 6, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  10. ↑ "WGN-TV Kids Fair | WGN-TV". Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Orlando Magic Announces Zach Darnell as Magic Educator of the Year Presented by Quill.com". Orlando Magic. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  12. ↑ "The Orlando Magic and Quill.com Teamed Up to Refurbish Computer Lab at Local Community Center". Orlando Magic. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  13. ↑ Luckerson, Victor (May 16, 2013). "After the Office, Dunder Mifflin Will Live on in Every Office". Time.
  14. ↑ [ dead link ]
  15. ↑ [ dead link ]
  16. ↑ "Medical Arts Press - Company Overview - Hoover's". Archived from the original on October 26, 2008. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
  17. ↑ "Staples buys Medical Arts Press | Multichannel Merchant". Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Medical Arts Press Now Part of Quill Healthcare". Businesswire.com. March 2, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Bizrate Insights Circle of Excellence Past Winners". Bizratesurveys.com. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Car Ratings and Awards | J.D. Power Awards and Ratings" (PDF). Businesscenter.jdpower.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.