Cole Papers

What Cole Papers does

Cole Papers is a privately held wholesale distribution company headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, that has operated continuously since 1918. The company supplies three primary product categories: facility maintenance supplies, foodservice disposables, and printing papers. These are physical consumable and maintenance goods typically sold to business customers such as offices, restaurants, hospitality operators, schools, healthcare facilities, and other commercial establishments.

The business operates with a workforce of 51-100 employees, placing it in the small-to-mid-size regional distributor tier. Its product mix is broad but conventional for the janitorial/sanitation and office supplies distribution industry, with no disclosed proprietary technology, branded product lines, or e-commerce platform details. The company website (colepapers.com) was inaccessible during data collection, returning only a loading/verification page, so specific catalog breadth, digital ordering capabilities, and channel structure could not be verified.

Cole Papers' revenue model follows the standard wholesale distribution playbook: purchasing products in volume and reselling to commercial buyers at margin. No pricing model, contract structure, or revenue split information is publicly disclosed. The company has no disclosed parent organization, no funding rounds, and no known M&A activity, consistent with a closely held, family- or founder-controlled regional operator that has remained private for over a century.

Name

Cole Papers

Website

https://colepapers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1918

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cole Papers is a Fargo-based wholesale distributor, founded in 1918, supplying facility maintenance supplies, foodservice disposables, and printing papers to commercial customers in the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Commercial Supplies Distribution

NAICS

Converted Paper Product Manufacturing (3222)

SIC

Wholesale-Paper & Paper Products (5110)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional Laundry & Hygiene Paper Systems (Rolls, Refills, Managed Programs) (IMAMAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Paper Towels & Kitchen Rolls (CRADALAC)

Keywords

• Wholesale distribution supplies
• Facility maintenance products
• Foodservice disposable supplies
• Commercial printing paper
• Janitorial sanitation supplies

Headquarters

HQ city

Fargo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Cole Papers is a wholesale distributor that supplies facility maintenance products, foodservice disposables, and printing papers to commercial and institutional buyers. The company has been operating since 1918 and is headquartered in Fargo, United States, serving customers across the upper Midwest with bulk and case-quantity supply needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Facility Maintenance Supplies Wholesale janitorial and facility maintenance products sold to commercial and institutional buyers managing buildings and facilities.
• Foodservice Disposables Single-use foodservice disposables distributed in bulk to foodservice operators, restaurants, cafeterias, and institutional food providers.
• Printing Papers Commercial printing papers sold wholesale to printers, offices, schools, and businesses with high-volume printing requirements.

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Broad incumbents

• Bunzl plc: Global distribution and outsourcing company supplying foodservice disposables, cleaning/hygiene supplies, and paper products to commercial customers. Comparable to Cole Papers in product categories but operates at vastly larger scale across multiple geographies.
• Sysco Corporation: Largest U.S. foodservice distributor, supplying restaurants and other foodservice operators with disposables and supplies among other categories. Comparable to Cole Papers' foodservice disposables line but at much larger scale.
• Performance Food Group: Major U.S. foodservice and convenience distributor with broad product portfolio that includes foodservice disposables and facility supplies. Overlaps with Cole Papers' offerings but operates at national scale.

Direct peers

• Imperial Dade: North American foodservice and janitorial supply distributor serving customers in similar product categories to Cole Papers (foodservice disposables, facility maintenance supplies). Closely comparable business model and customer base.
• Brady Industries: Wholesale distributor of janitorial, foodservice, and paper products to commercial customers across multiple U.S. states. Directly comparable in product mix and customer segments to Cole Papers.
• Veritiv Corporation: Distributor of print, packaging, and facility solutions products including printing papers, janitorial supplies, and foodservice disposables. Overlaps with Cole Papers across all three of its main product categories.
• S.P. Richards Company: Wholesale distributor of office products, janitorial supplies, and foodservice disposables serving resellers and commercial customers. Similar product portfolio and B2B distribution model to Cole Papers.
• Essendant (Sycamore Partners portfolio): Wholesale distributor of business products including paper, janitorial, and breakroom supplies. Closely aligned business model and product categories with Cole Papers.

Regional players

• EIS Group: Specialty distributor serving electrical, industrial, and facility maintenance markets with related paper and supply products. Comparable as a regional B2B distributor of maintenance and supply products.
• Midwest Paper Supply: Regional wholesale distributor of janitorial supplies, foodservice disposables, and paper products based in the upper Midwest. Directly comparable to Cole Papers in geography, scale, and product mix.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/colepapers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cole-papers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cole Papers