
Fellowes Brands, Inc. is a privately held manufacturer of office equipment based in
Itasca, Illinois
Itasca () is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 9,543. Located approximately 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, Itasca is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways and ...
. The company was founded as the Bankers Box Company to manufacture the company's namesake Bankers Box record storage boxes. Since the 1960s, the company has diversified its portfolio of products, changing its name to Fellowes and becoming a market leader of
paper shredder
A paper shredder is a mechanical device used to cut sheets of paper into either strips or fine particles. Government organizations, businesses, and private individuals use shredders to destroy private, confidential, or otherwise sensitive do ...
s and record storage products in the United States.
After its expansion into business machines such as
shredding,
laminating
Simulated flight (using image stack created by μCT scanning) through the length of a knitting needle that consists of laminated wooden layers: the layers can be differentiated by the change of direction of the wood's vessels
Shattered windshi ...
, and
binding, Fellowes Brands has expanded its brand to include various products, including modular walls, furniture, business machines,
commercial air purification, and commercial-grade workspace products.
Fellowes has been owned and operated by members of its namesake family since its foundation in 1917. The company operates 24 regional offices across the world and employs more than 1,000 people.
History

The company was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1917 by Harry Fellowes and Walter Nickel as the Bankers Box Company, producing the Bankers Box line of record storage boxes. Sons Folger and John Fellowes joined the business in 1934 and 1938, respectively, and grandson James Fellowes joined in 1969 and was named president in 1983. The same year the company name was changed from Bankers Box to Fellowes to reflect an expansion into business machines and computer accessory products. James Fellowes would later become CEO in 1997. As the brand portfolio expanded, the company was named Fellowes Brands in 2015. The great-grandson of the founder and the fourth generation of the Fellowes family, John Fellowes, became CEO of Fellowes Brands in 2014. The company's corporate headquarters are in
Itasca, Illinois
Itasca () is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 9,543. Located approximately 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, Itasca is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways and ...
.
In 2019, the company acquired Trendway Corporation, an office furniture manufacturer based in
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa and Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in the West Michigan, western region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula, the city is si ...
.
Citations
General and cited sources
* {{cite book , last=Pederson , first=Jay P. , date=1999 , url=https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0028unse/ , title=International Directory of Company Histories , publisher=St. James Press , isbn=9781558626690 , via=the Internet Archive
1917 establishments in Illinois
American companies established in 1917
Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois
Manufacturing companies based in Illinois
Office supply companies of the United States