Shore To Shore

About Us

Howard Kurdin, John Lau, and Jim Kinney founded Shore To Shore in 1991. John Lau is the managing director of Wing Hung Printing Company in Hong Kong, and Howard and Jim had been working for Monarch Marking Systems. All three founders shared a belief that Monarch and its competitors were ignoring a huge market opportunity in the merchandise identification industry. Shore To Shore opened its first office in Washington Square Plaza in Centerville, Ohio,
USA. In its early years, all production was outsourced either to Wing Hung in Hong Kong or to various U.S.-based printers. The company was very successful and quickly expanded in both office space and employees. Production facilities were soon added in the United Kingdom and Turkey. By 1995, Shore To Shore decided that it needed to start producing its own products in the USA. The owners of Graphicor, Inc. of Miamisburg, Ohio had expressed an interest in selling the business. An agreement was reached and Shore To Shore moved into its new home in December 1995. The acquisition of Graphicor increased employment to 65.

The company continued to grow and by 1998, there were nearly 90 U.S. employees.
Additional production facilities in India and Sri Lanka were added to the list. Plans were in place to begin offering new products as well as expanding the flexographic capabilities. Shore To Shore had outgrown the Graphicor building, and moved into the present building in January 1999. During that summer, Shore To Shore acquired General Label Consultants of Nottingham, England. This strategic acquisition was made to attain GLC's expertise in the fabric care label market.

Over the past few years, other mergers and joint ventures have raised the number of Shore To Shore production facilities. In addition to the previously mentioned facilities, there is production in, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Korea and Australia. In addition, Shore To Shore focused on expanding sales in Europe by opening an office in Amsterdam 2002. Other growth markets include China, India, and Bangladesh. Today there are over 1,700 employees working for the company worldwide. By taking advantage of a market that was not being served, Shore To Shore has become a leading supplier of brand packaging solutions.