2011 Year in Review: Industry News

East Coast earthquakes, company shake-ups, fluctuating stock markets and poisonous products: the past 12 months have seen a lot of major news, both for the promotional products industry and the world at large. This week, Promo Marketing is looking at the stories that helped define 2011. From Monday through Thursday we will recap the year's major news in four different areas: industry news, politics, product safety and world events. Check PromoMarketing.com each day, and vote in our Friday poll for the most important story of the year.

2011 Year in Review: Industry News
The effects of the mid-2000's recession are still felt today, and many would argue that it never truly went away. Promotional products suppliers and distributors felt the sting of a wounded economy, with several major companies merging, suffering losses or bowing out of the industry entirely.

Effects of the fragile economy were not limited to companies. Professionals from the sales floor all the way to the corner office experienced shakeups, and many well-known members of the industry made major announcements that affected both individual organizations and the market as a whole. Here are just some of the major moves from within the promotional products industry.

Camsing Global Acquires Corvest, Senator, Avaline
Camsing Global, a promotional products and supply chain management company founded in China in 1996, announced two majors acquisitions on January 6. The company acquired the assets of Corvest Acquisition, parent of Adva-Lite, Toppers and It's All Greek to Me, as well as Senator Promotional Group, parent of Senator Writing Instruments and Dart Business Accessories. The company would go on to acquire supplier Avaline in July.

Hallmark Quietly Exits Industry
World-famous gift card company Hallmark shut the doors on Hallmark Business Connections, its promotional products branch, on January 31. In a letter mailed one week earlier, the company said ""All communication channels dedicated to promotional products will be inactivated at that time. This includes toll-free number, e-mail, distributor website and fax number."