Dear Friends,
2017 marked our company's 93rd year in business and what a year it's been! Way back in 1924 when my grandfather started the company, we only sold a basic yellow #2 pencil and a ballpoint stick pen to the Baltimore area.
I believe he would be proud of the way we’ve been able to continually reinvent ourselves and stay relevant through all these years. Today, we sell all sorts of fun products, including novelty pens, awesome erasers, slime and goo, toys, fidgets and more! You’ll find our products in over 30,000 schools and retail locations across the country. And, yes, we still sell the yellow #2 pencil.
There's a lot to like about 2017. You said more emoji products, we created more emoji pens, pencils, and erasers. You said more ooey, gooey slime and putty options, we dreamed up more scented, shimmering, sticky messes.
WONDER became a huge hit and looks poised to become a fixture of National Bullying Prevention Month each October, which also gets a little more fun and spooky with the line of Halloween-themed PEANUTS® school supplies we introduced this year.
Dozens of our customers started and improved their school stores this year through our Free School Store Course. Thank you for committing to using school stores as a learning opportunity for your students.
What we're most proud of this year is our pledge to donate $200,000 in supplies to schools directly affected by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. We were able to send care packages of school supplies to hundreds of classrooms and teachers that lost everything.
Running a third generation family-owned business is a challenge and 2018 will be no different. You have countless companies to choose from to meet your school store, classroom reward, and fundraising needs, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for choosing GEDDES.
Sincerely,
Will Geddes
President of Raymond Geddes & Company, Inc.