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| Type | Corporation, Subsidiary of Staples, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956 |
| Headquarters | Lincolnshire, IL |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Office supplies |
| Website | www.quill.com |
Quill Corporation is the largest mail-order office supply retailer in the United States with revenues of $1.3B per year and EBITDA of over 20%. [1] Currently headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Quill offers more than 65,000 products including school and office supplies, office machines, furniture, technology, cleaning and breakroom, custom-printed and promotional products. Over 70% of Quill's sales are on their e-business site. [2]
Contents |
History
Having grown tired of working as a door-to-door salesman, in 1956 Jack Miller decided to start his own office supply business.[3] In 1956 with a small $2,000 loan from his father-in-law, a desk, chair and two phones, Quill's first office was established in the back room of his father's poultry shop on the north side of Chicago. By 1974, Jack's brothers Harvey and Arnold had both joined the business. Business grew slow but steady and by 1963 the Miller brothers had transformed their small business into one of the United States' first "mail-order only" companies. [4] In 1996, the Miller brothers launched the Web site, Quill.com. In the winter of 1998, the Miller brothers sold Quill Corporation to Staples, Inc. for approximately $685 million. Jack Miller utilized funds from the sale of Quill to create the Jack Miller Center. [5]
Going "Green"
In an effort to be more environmentally friendly Quill added a larger assortment of "green" products including paper, cleaning and breakroom, filing and binder products, as well as a laser cartridge recycling box that is free to order and free to return to Quill. [6]
Online
The domain http://www.quill.com attracted at least 1 million visitors annually by 2008, according to a Compete.com survey. [7]The online community, Office Living was launched in November 2006 with a variety of articles from tips to recipes that are useful for a busy office professional.
Business Ventures
In July of 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. 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. [8]
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.
So Fast, So Simple Slogan
In 2006, Quill's "So fast, so simple" branding campaign was launched. In conjunction with a program to migrate catalog shoppers to the Web site, Quill.com, the goal of the campaign was to encourage shopping online for a faster, simpler way to shop for office supplies.
Events and Milestones
- 1956 – Quill is founded by Jack Miller in Chicago, IL
- 1957 – Brother Harvey joins the business and Quill moves into its first real office and warehouse
- 1963 – Quill's first big mail-order catalog is introduced
- 1974 – Quill reports annual sales of $3.5 million
- 1974 – Arnold joins his brothers in the family business
- 1992 – United States Supreme Court case Quill Corp. v. North Dakota in which Quill took the position that North Dakota does not have the power to make Quill collect a use tax from North Dakota customers [9]
- 1995 – A wide range of school supplies are added, such as crayons, rulers, audiovisual equipment, erasers, and other items to meet the needs of primary and secondary students
- 1996 – http://www.quill.com is launched
- 1997 - Quill weathers the UPS strike.
- 1998 – Quill is acquired by Staples, Inc.
- 2000 – Larry Morse is named President
- July, 2002 – Medical Arts Press becomes a subsidiary of Quill
- 2004 – Quill is awarded the "Circle of Excellence" Platinum Award by BizRate.com (a Shopzilla Company) for customer service [10]
- 2006 – "So fast, so simple" branding campaign launched
- April, 2006 – "Clips" the Quill chicken and official mascot of Quill's 50th anniversary is "hatched"
- June 23, 2006 – Quill celebrates its 50th anniversary
- 2007 – Quill is recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience",[11] expands to 12 distribution centers with the addition of 1 in Denver, Colorado, and attains 70% of total sales online at Quill.com
- 2008 – Quill launches the Green Scene (http://www.quill.com/gogreen) initiative with environmentally friendly products and business practices
- 2008 - Quill is recognized for the second year in a row by J.D. Power and Associates
- 2008 – Michael Patriarca succeeds Larry Morse and is appointed senior vice president of Staples
- 2009 - Quill launches their own YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/quillofficesupplies with a new "Ask Quill" campaign
- 2009 - Quill rebrands to Quill.com and updates tag line to "Best experience in office products"
- 2009 - Quill.com launches Facebook page Quill.com on Facebook and Twitter feed Quillcom
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.linkedin.com/companies/quill
- ^ http://www.simplysuccessbook.com/quill.html
- ^ http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/779.html
- ^ http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/08/business/fi-37095
- ^ http://www.quill.com/gogreen
- ^ http://siteanalytics.compete.com/quill.com/?metric=uv
- ^ http://www.hoovers.com/medical-arts-press/--ID__139219--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml
- ^ Quill Corp. v. North Dakota
- ^ http://www.bizrate.com/boutique/2008circleofexcellence.html
- ^ http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2008211
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