--Lsw19552015 (talk) 00:08, 6 July 2015 (UTC) SMILEMAKERS, Inc.
SmileMakers is a direct marketing company for giveaways (stickers, small toys, toothbrushes, candy and practice promotion items) for Dental and Medical offices. It is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and its majority owner is Berkshire Hathaway.
In 1974, Galloway Promotions, an Ad Specialty company owned by Leon Galloway Sr. and Leon Galloway Jr. decided to market giveaways to pediatric dental patients offering Smiley Face pencils, stickers and other products to be used as patient giveaways.
The company was officially incorporated in 1978 and mailed their first 16 page full color catalog to pediatric medical and dental offices in 1981.
SmileMakers moved to its current location on Sha Lane in Spartanburg in 1990 and also opened a distribution and call center in Canada mailing their first Canadian specific catalog.
In 1995 they were the first in the industry to offer stickers on rolls and boxes. They launched their first e-commerce website in 1996.
SmileMakers started a relationship with UK distributors and began a direct licensing program with Bobby’s World with Howie Mandel in 1996.
Separate catalogs were created for the Dental and Medical markets in 1997.
In 1998 the company was purchased by Medical Arts Press.
A catalog for Teachers was developed and mailed in 1999.
In 2002 SmileMakers was purchased by Quill Corporation, owned by Staples[1].
Outgrowing the space at Sha Lane; product make-up and custom imprinting departments were moved to a leased space at the Corporate Center in Spartanburg in 2004. Additionally there was a significant expansion of Education product lines.
In 2007 a direct licensing agreement with Disney was signed for practice promotion products and the product line was significantly expanded. In 2008 SmileMakers signed a licensing agreement with Nickelodeon. An expanded agreement was signed with Disney to include stickers in 2009.
In 2010 the toothbrush product line was expanded and their order management system and website were converted to a new ERP system.
The SmileMakers Operations center which consolidated product make-up, custom imprinting, supply chain, pick/pack ship and warehouse departments opened on John Martin Road in Spartanburg in 2011. Additionally a licensing agreement with Marvel was signed and a separate Practice Promotion catalog was mailed to the Dental market in that same year.
In 2012 the Sha Lane facility was renovated.
The SmileMakers brand was re-launched to expand beyond B2B into B2C in 2013.
SmileMakers was purchased by Oriental Trading Company, a Berkshire Hathaway Company in 2014[2].