Newell Custom Writing Instruments (formerly Sanford Business-to-Business, abbreviated Sanford B2B) is an American manufacturing company of

stationery Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter pape ...

products. It is a division of

Newell Brands Newell Brands is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage and trash containers; home organization and reusable container products; Conti ...

, producing

writing implement A writing implement or writing instrument is an object used to produce writing. Writing consists of different figures, lines, and or forms. Most of these items can be also used for other functions such as painting, drawing and technical drawing, ...

s, in its plant of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Newell Custom is the exclusive distributor in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

for

uni-ball (stylized as uni-ball) and are brands of pens and pencils, made by the of Japan. The brand was introduced in 1979 as a rollerball pen model, then expanding to the rest of Mitsubishi Pencil products. Mitsubishi Pencil Company distributes over ...

pens and pencils, which are made by the Mitsubishi Pencil Company of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

s currently commercialized by NCWI are Sharpie, Paper Mate, Expo, Parker, and Waterman. The company operates worldwide, with locations in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, France, the United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela.

History

The company was founded in 1857 by Frederick W. Redington and William H. Sanford, Jr. in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

as the "Sanford Manufacturing Company". The company moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in 1866, five years before the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

destroyed Sanford's Chicago location. New facilities were soon built after the devastation of the fire, and operations resumed. In 1947, following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Sanford Ink Company was forced to move locations to make room for a new expressway. The company settled in Bellwood, Illinois, where it still maintains a facility. In August 1985 Sanford became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

. On February 14, 1992, Sanford was acquired by the Newell Company, (now called

, a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

company). In August 1976 the company launched the first ''Expo'' dry erase marker. In November 1986, the company launched a new marker named ''Expo II''. It featured an alcohol-based ink instead of methyl isobutyl ketone. Sanford discontinued the Expo 2 in the 2010s and changed this line to the alcohol-based ink. Business grew through many acquisitions. Newell already owned Keene Office Products and Rogers Office Products, acquired in 1991. In 1994 they acquired

Eberhard Faber The Eberhard Faber Pencil Company was started by John Eberhard Faber in 1861 in Midtown Manhattan, New York City by the East River at the foot of 42nd Street, on the present site of the United Nations Headquarters. After an 1872 fire, operations m ...

, in 1995 Berol and Phillips, and in 1998

Rotring Rotring (stylized rOtring) is a former German manufacturing company of technical drawing tools and writing implements. Established in 1928 as a fountain pen manufacturer, Rotring is currently a brand owned by Newell Brands after its acquisitio ...

, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

technical drawing Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and discipline of composing drawings that visually communicate how something functions or is constructed. Technical drawing is essential for communicating ideas in industry and engineering ...

instruments company. Also in 1998, Sanford split into two divisions: Sanford North America and Sanford International. In 1999

Rubbermaid Rubbermaid is an American manufacturer and distributor of household items. It is a subsidiary of Newell Brands. It is best known for producing food storage containers and trash cans. Additionally, it produces sheds, step stools, closets and shel ...

Little Tikes Little Tikes is an American manufacturer of children's toys, with headquarters and manufacturing located in Hudson, Ohio. The company also has other manufacturing and distribution facilities in Asia and Europe. Little Tikes' products are mostly l ...

, Graco, and Curver were acquired and the company changed its name to "Newell Rubbermaid". In 2000,

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gill ...

(now part of

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

) sold its writing instruments division to Newell Rubbermaid, whose own stationery division, Sanford, became Sanford, L.P. (later renamed "Newell Rubbermaid Office Products"). Gillette had acquired

Parker Pens The Parker Pen Company is a French manufacturer of luxury writing pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. In 2011 the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England, was closed, and its producti ...

in 1993 and had already owned the Paper Mate brand, as well as Waterman and

Liquid Paper Liquid Paper is an American brand of the Newell Brands company marketed internationally that sells correction fluid, correction pens, and correction tape. Mainly used to correct typewriting in the past, correction products now mostly cover handw ...

. In 2019, Sanford B2B changed its name to "Newell Custom Writing Instruments".Sanford Business-to-Business Changes Name, Launches New Website
by Christopher Ruvo, October 22, 2019

Products

Newell Custom manufactures a large variety of products through its brands, those include:

Former brands

The following brands were part of the Sanford Company, then taken over by

: *

Berol Berol is a former British stationery manufacturing company, based in Lichfield. The company, established in 1845, manufactured a wide range of products including writing implements and art materials. In 1995 it was acquired by Sanford L.P., a ...

* CardScan *

Dymo Dymo Corporation is an American manufacturing company of handheld label printers and thermal-transfer printing tape as accessory, embossing tape label makers, and other printers such as CD and DVD labelers and durable medical equipment. The co ...

* Mimio *

Mr. Sketch Mr. Sketch is a brand of scented markers, currently owned by Newell Brands Newell Brands is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage ...

* Pelouze *

Prismacolor Prismacolor is a brand of professional visual arts supplies originated in 1938 by the Eagle Pencil Company (then taken over by Berol), and currently manufactured by Newell Brands. Prismacolor products include, colored and graphite pencils, soft ...

* Reynolds *

Rolodex A Rolodex is a rotating card file device used to store business contact information. Its name, a portmanteau of the words ''rolling'' and ''index'', has become somewhat genericized (usually as ''rolodex'') for any personal organizer performing th ...

* Laurentien

References

External links

* {{Pen manufacturers Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Pen manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1857 1857 establishments in Massachusetts 1980s initial public offerings 1992 mergers and acquisitions Newell Brands