Blair Companies history

Both founder John L. Blair and his younger brother Lester died in 1962.

The old addressograph system used metal plates for each customer address, and by 1965 there were six million of these plates, taking up thousands of square feet of floor space.

Don met the growing need for space and employees by acquiring a small electrical contractor in 1968 and moved Blair into their Bellwood facility, a deal which included a few employees making signs.

The company published no earnings projections, and so did nothing to prepare its adherents for a bump that came in 1973.

By 1975, Blair Electric was the largest electrical contractor in the coal industry, with a new office servicing Gillette, WY’s Powder River Basin, the world’s largest coalfield.

By 1976, New Process had over 11 million customers across the United States, employed close to 1700 people, and had sales of just under $200 million.

So in 1979, a disastrous year for many industries, New Process had record sales, and seemed to be an enviably stable company.

By 1984, New Process was the largest publicly-held direct mail business in the United States The company, now run by John Blair Jr., the son of founder John L. Blair, was using its computers to generate mailings every two weeks to over 12 million targeted customers.

In 1988, Don’s daughter Andrea gave up her Washington D.C. based career in Sports Marketing to begin marketing for Blair.

In April, 1989, the New Process Company formally changed its name to Blair Corporation, after its founder.

Profits in 1995 stood at over $25 million on sales of over $560 million; the next year sales dropped slightly to $544 million, but profits sank to $14.7 million.

Sales and earnings fell in 1997, further emphasizing the importance of getting the new business strategies working.

Kathy Wagner, joined Blair as CFO in 1998 after 16 years at Blair’s outside accounting firm.