IDEASTREAM CONSUMER PRODUCTS, LLC

We opened our doors on June 2, 2002. The original founders of the business, Tony DeCarlo, Dan Perella, and Vince Thomson were senior executives at large consumer products companies, where they had risen through the ranks over the previous ten years. They quit their jobs and successful careers without a customer or an item to start the business, and moved into the company's first office above a machine shop in Parma, Ohio.



The company was founded on the premise that it would not be married to any particular production process or technology, nor would it be bound to any particular product category. The business would focus on delivering innovative products, by bringing exceptional industrial design in direct contact with the needs of consumers. There would be no investments in production facilities or equipment, as manufacturing would be outsourced. The magic would be in the design, so the investments would be made in that area, as well as in the intellectual property to protect those designs.



Tony, Dan, and Vince had gotten to know each other over the years as members of a vendor community that served the office superstores, commercial office products resellers, and Walmart's stationery department. Their respective companies often competed for service awards with their mutual customers, which led to a healthy respect for one another, as well as an understanding of their shared passion for serving customers.



With limited investment capital and little time to be self-funding, the race was on to bring in sales. Not having a product made this particularly challenging. Over the first couple months in business, the team met and walked stores with over 20 merchants at different retailers, looking for any clue that might lead them to their first product offering.



The company did not register sales in 2002, but managed to bring in a couple million dollars of revenue in 2003. Today, our company enjoys growth relationships with some of the largest retailers and resellers in the world, including Office Depot, Staples, OfficeMax, Walmart, Best Buy, S.P. Richards, United Stationers, Buyonlinenow.com, Tiger Direct, Amazon.com, and others. The company's products are sold in 26 countries.



Our customers come first. If we serve them, our own success will follow. This includes consumers as well as retailers and distributors. This is a very real value in our business and is one that helps us make the right decisions - even if they are not always the easiest ones.



Speed is important to us. We strive to serve our customers as quickly and as completely as possible.



We stress creativity and imagination in everything we do. Opportunities for innovation are all around us and are in some of the biggest, most mature categories. We strive to develop innovations that define brand new categories.



We have little reverence for the way things have always been done. We believe that no category or product is safe from innovation - and we're fearless when it comes to entering new businesses. "Why not us?" is a question we often ask.



We place a very high value on involving the most talented people we can find. We bring in the best and brightest full-time associates and choose world-class service providers who share our passion for serving customers.



Information technology is core to our business. Knowledge of what is happening in the marketplace delivers powerful insights that help us recognize opportunities and quickly create solutions.



Humility, creativity, energy, passion and speed define our business.