EBSCO Industries, Inc. :: News :: EBSCO Acquires Crown Products


	home

EBSCO Acquires Crown Products

Crown managers with the company’s five Supplier Star awards. From left: Brian Bush, vice president of Operations; Janie Chestang, controller; Gerri Moiren, customer service manager; and John Ratliff, vice president of sales.

EBSCO’s latest acquisition understands that to succeed in the promotional products industry, you have to give customers “Whatever It Takes.”

That is the slogan for Crown Products, promotional products supplier and industry leader. EBSCO acquired the company in December 2005 from owners Bob Bickert and Brian Bush. Bickert will remain with the company as general manager.

Crown’s 200 employees do “Whatever It Takes” to supply customers with top-quality promotional items, including specialties such as writing instruments, padfolios, bags and backpacks, beverage ware and golf accessories. Crown sources its products from a variety of suppliers domestically and internationally and decorates in-house using screen-printing techniques. What started as a company with five employees and less than $300,000 in revenue has grown in 10 years to become a leader in the promotional products industry. Crown has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Supplier Star award for the past five years. Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), the industry trade association, divides suppliers into 11 size categories, and distributors (the resellers) vote yearly. The supplier with the most votes receives the Supplier Star Award. In addition, Crown has recently been named the No. 6 “Overall Favorite Supplier” and No. 4 “Best Customer Service … Industry-wide” by Corporate Logo, a trade magazine.

“The acquisition of Crown Products represents a tremendous opportunity for EBSCO to partner with a growth-oriented promotional products supplier led by a quality management team,” said David Walker, EBSCO acquisitions manager. “We commend Bob Bickert and his talented team for creating a culture of growth, profit and customer service, and we look forward to working with them prospectively.” “Blending EBSCO’s strengths and benefit programs into Crown Products should make us one of the more attractive companies to work for in the Mobile area,” Bickert said. “This partnership is a great fit for myself and our employees. I have been very impressed with what I have learned about EBSCO’s reputation of success and taking care of their employees. And quite frankly, they are just good people. It was very important to me that we were acquired by a family-owned, Alabama-based company.” Bickert, a graduate of Auburn University, began his career at Arthur Andersen’s consulting group in Atlanta, Ga., but soon made a transition to Alpha Products, where he was challenged to develop a promotional products distribution channel. After successfully growing the promotional products business at Alpha, Bickert joined Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Gold Bond, another promotional products supplier. Following several prosperous years at Gold Bond, Bickert purchased Mobile, Ala.-based Crown Products. Brian Bush, who had worked with Bob at both Alpha Products and Gold Bond, joined Bickert to manage the operations side of the business. “I am looking forward to continuing our track record of growth and our ‘Whatever it Takes’ service,” Bickert said. I feel strongly that this new partnership will catapult Crown Products into one of largest and most successful companies in the promotional products industry. I also look forward to learning from the management team at Vitronic/Four Seasons and Admanco.” Crown’s management team will consist of Bickert; Bush, vice president of operations; John Ratliff, vice president of sales and marketing; and Janie Chestang, controller. For more information on Crown Products, visit www.crownprod.com.

Return to News Archive
Return to main News page