Jacksonville-based Holmes Custom announced Thursday it bought Capitol Rubber Stamp Co., based in Austin, Texas, and Frost Manufacturing, based in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Formerly known as Holmes Stamp & Sign, the company also bought 3 acres of commercial property at 3036 Philips Highway for eventual development.
The personalization company was created in 1954 and is based at 2021 St. Augustine Road, just off Philips Highway.
Frost Manufacturing, a supplier of personalized office products in the Boston area, will be merged with the North East division of Holmes Custom, known as www.CorpConnect.com.
In Austin, Capitol Rubber Stamp will continue operations as www.CapStamp.com and eventually serve as an additional manufacturing and distribution center for Holmes Custom’s personalized products.
Michael Price, with Holmes Custom since 2011, relocated to run the Austin operations.
Holmes Custom said it is a leader in building user-friendly e-commerce platforms and will extend the same technology to the newly acquired businesses. In both acquisitions, the company gained machinery, equipment and longtime team members.
“Strategically, we are watching customers’ expectations evolve with Prime-like companies such as Amazon that can deliver packages in hours or two short days,” President Bryan Croft said in a news release.
He said the company “is always working to up our game and deliver our personalized products FAST.”
Holmes Custom bought the Philips Highway property, near its headquarters, as part of its commitment to Jacksonville, Croft said.
He said Holmes Custom will raze the abandoned buildings currently on the lot.
“We want to be a leader in change for our community,” Croft said. “We can improve our city while building our business by cleaning up a previously blighted area and creating jobs – that’s the biggest win of all,” he said.
Croft said he envisions using some of the property to build additional space for an expanded Holmes Custom headquarters in the next few years.
In the meantime, he is interviewing local artists and sculptors to bring public art to the property and area.
“We continue to evaluate unique opportunities to expand our customer base, service new markets and add new quality members to our rapidly growing team,” said Holmes Custom Vice President Steven Fernandez in the news release.
The website is holmescustom.com
Holmes Custom says it is a manufacturer and e-commerce retailer of rubber stamps, name tags, custom signs and other personalized products.
It operates five divisions: Promo180.com, NameTagWizard.com, CustomSigns.com, SimplyStamps.com and 904Custom.com; and ships more than 120,000 orders annually around the globe.