Hallmark Cards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hallmark Cards, a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. Approximately 50% of greeting cards sent in the United States every year are manufactured by Hallmark.
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[edit] Background
Founded in 1910 by 18-year-old Joyce C. Hall selling postcards, by 1915 the company was known as Hall Brothers and sold Valentine's Day and Christmas cards. In 1917, Hall and his brother Rollie invented modern wrapping paper when they ran out of traditional colored tissue paper.
In 1928, the company adopted the name "Hallmark", after the hallmark symbol used by goldsmiths in London in the 14th century, and began printing the name on the back of every card and promoting it in ad campaigns, a practice the company continues to the present day. In 1931, the Canadian William E. Coutts Company, Ltd., a major card maker, became an affiliate of Hall Brothers, which was Hall Brothers' first international business venture.
In 1944, it adopted its current slogan, "When you care enough to send the very best." It was created by a salesman at a meeting. The cocktail napkin on which it was originally handwritten is on display at the company headquarters. In 1951, Hall sponsored a television program for NBC that gave rise to the Hallmark Hall of Fame, which has won 78 Emmy Awards.
In 1954, the company name was changed from Hall Brothers to Hallmark. In 1958, William E. Coutts Company, Ltd. was acquired by Hallmark; until the 1990s, Hallmark's Canadian branch was known as "Coutts Hallmark".
[edit] Employees
Worldwide, Hallmark has more than 18,000 full-time employees. About 4,500 Hallmarkers work at the Kansas City headquarters and about 9,900 are associated full-time with the U.S. personal expression business.
[edit] Management
The current chairman is Donald J. Hall, Sr., and the current president and CEO is his son, Donald J. Hall, Jr. This management causes Hallmarks to run as a successful business and also allows other branches of Hallmarks to communicate while the managers are not there, they manage to get the message across without having the chairman or president there.
[edit] Creative resources
Hallmark's creative staff consists of around 800 artists, designers, stylists, writers, editors and photographers. Together they generate more than 19,000 new and redesigned greeting cards and related products per year. The company offers more than 48,000 products in its model line at any one time.
[edit] Products and services
Hallmark offers or has offered the following products and services:
Greeting Cards
- Shoebox (a tiny little division of Hallmark) [1]
- Maxine [2]
- hoops & yoyo [3]
- Revilo [4]
- Forever Friends [5]
- Tippi Town Bears [6]
- Hallmark Smilebox [7]
- Microsoft Greetings 2000 (A software product that allowed you to create Hallmark card at home.)
- Hallmark Greetz [8]
Collectible Ornaments
- Keepsake Ornaments [9]
Gift Product
- Hallmark Flowers [10]
Publications
- Hallmark Magazine [11]
[edit] Hallmark School Store
Alvirne High School in Hudson, New Hampshire, operates the only Hallmark school store in the United States. Besides normal food and beverage items, the "Bronco Barn" store also sells Hallmark cards. The store is run by students in Marketing I and Marketing II classes, and is open to students all day and after school.[1]
[edit] Subsidiaries
Hallmark owns:
- Hallmark Channel: a television network;
- Binney & Smith: makers of Crayola-brand crayons
- A chain of independently-owned card and gift stores: in the United States and Canada.
- Hallmark Music: In the mid-1980s, the company started the music division, issuing compilation albums by a number of popular artists. In 2004, Hallmark entered into a licensing agreement with Somerset Entertainment to produce Hallmark Music CDs. It also runs Halls, an upscale department store at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. In addition, it is the property manager of Crown Center adjacent to its headquarters, owns lithographer Litho-Krome Co., and corporate loyalty and gift certificate issuer Hallmark Insights (formerly the Gift Certificate Center).
[edit] Former subsidiaries
- Hallmark Entertainment: a producer of television shows and mini-series. Halmi Jr. and Halmi Sr. acquired the company in 2006 and renamed it to RHI Entertainment;
- Univision: Hallmark owned Spanish-language broadcaster Univision from 1986 to 1992.
[edit] Hallmark photographic collection
The Hallmark Photographic Collection was donated to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
