Phoenix Color Corp.

What Phoenix Color Corp. does

Phoenix Color Corp. is a privately held, full-service, full-color commercial printer founded in 1979 and headquartered in Hagerstown, Maryland. The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Visant following a 2009 acquisition, with two manufacturing facilities in Hagerstown, MD and Terre Haute, IN, plus a wholly owned subsidiary, Color Optics. Its product portfolio spans Books & Components, Commercial Specialty, Folding Cartons, Labels, and Special Effects, and it has extended into the paint industry via the asset acquisition of Brady Palmer Label Corp.

The company's technical platform is built around UV printing, with a multi-year transition to nearly 100% UV production completed from a starting base of under 50%. It owns a suite of proprietary trademarked decorative techniques — LithoFoil®, MetalTone™, Look of Leather™, VibraColor™, VibraMotion™, and Lithomatte™ — that constitute differentiated specialty finishes for cover and packaging applications. The company has held FSC and SFI chain-of-custody certifications since 2007, supporting sustainability requirements of publishers and consumer brand owners.

Phoenix Color runs a sales-led go-to-market with regional sales coverage serving major book publishers and commercial print customers. The company launched eService 2.0, a digital customer portal, in September 2020 to modernize account access and job management. No public revenue or headcount figures are disclosed.

Name

Phoenix Color Corp.

Legal name

Phoenix Color

Website

https://phoenixcolor.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Phoenix Color Corp. is a privately held, full-color commercial printer serving major book publishers and commercial customers with specialty decorative finishes, folding cartons, and labels from two U.S. manufacturing facilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Hagerstown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Print Manufacturing Services: Phoenix Color operates as a premier full-service, full-color printer producing memorable, value-added components, heavily-illustrated books, and specialty commercial products. Revenue is generated through one-time transaction-based printing services for book covers, components, folding cartons, labels, and commercial specialty items.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Phoenix Color is a premier full-service, full-color printer producing book covers, heavily-illustrated books, folding cartons, labels, and commercial specialty products. The company draws on a broad spectrum of materials and decorative technologies, including trademarked special effects (LithoFoil, MetalTone, Look of Leather, VibraColor), foil stamping, UV embellishments, and laminations. Services are delivered through in-house digital pre-press and a technologically advanced UV printing platform from facilities in Hagerstown, Maryland and Terre Haute, Indiana.

Product overview

Phoenix Color Corp. is a premier full-service, full-color printer offering a unified portfolio of printing and finishing products. The core offerings include Books & Components (cover components and heavily-illustrated books), Commercial – Specialty Manufacturing (blads, folders, game boards, posters, collectible cards), Folding Cartons, Labels (primarily for the Paint Industry), and Special Effects (trademarked decorative techniques including LithoFoil, MetalTone, Look of Leather, VibraColor, VibraMotion, and Lithomatte). These products are unified by extensive in-house digital pre-press capabilities and a technologically advanced UV printing platform. The company also offers the eService 2.0 customer portal for order management. Products are complemented by special effects add-ons such as foil stamping, UV embellishments, embossing, and various UV finishes that can be applied across the entire product range.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LithoFoil®: A foil application technique using adhesive applied in-line that tolerates tighter control and flexibility within designs with fine details.
• MetalTone™
• Look of Leather™
• VibraColor™
• VibraMotion™
• Lithomatte™

Products and services

• Books & Components Phoenix Color's primary offering producing distinctive cover components and high-quality, heavily-illustrated, multicolored books for all markets. The bindery hosts state-of-the-art equipment for manufacturing award-winning titles and bestsellers. Services cover book covers, components, and binding for the publishing industry.
• Commercial – Specialty Manufacturing Specialty manufacturing items including blads, folders, game boards, box wraps, posters, postcards, and collectible cards, enhanced with trademarked decorative techniques for competitive edge.
• Folding Cartons Creative folding carton solutions to optimize brand presence on shelf and beyond. Serves needs from concept to finished product with consistency and quality required in the Brands market.
• Labels Cut & stack labels primarily for the Paint Industry, produced with expert customer service and state-of-the-art equipment. Offers all sizes and variations with quick turn-around times, including trademarked special effects like LithoFoil, VibraColor, foil stamping, and embossing.
• eService 2.0 Online customer access portal for Phoenix Color accounts, enabling order placement and tracking for production jobs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced VOC emissions through UV printing technology
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VisantcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company Visant. Phoenix Color, along with Visant, implements environmentally friendly standards within the workplace. Visant is a significant corporate affiliation representing the ownership structure of Phoenix Color.
• Lakeside Book CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLakeside Book Company is shown as a connected entity in Phoenix Color's footer, indicating a corporate relationship. Lakeside Book Company is a major book manufacturing company.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Broad incumbents

• Berry Global Group: Large global packaging manufacturer with pressure-sensitive labels and decorated folding cartons. Comparable in label and folding carton product categories serving CPG brands.
• Quad/Graphics: Large diversified US commercial printer offering catalogs, magazines, books, and packaging. Overlaps with Phoenix Color's commercial printing and folding carton businesses but at much greater scale across multiple verticals.
• RR Donnelley: Global integrated communications provider with substantial book, commercial, and label printing operations. Comparable broad-based printing services for publishers and brand owners.
• Transcontinental Inc. North American flexible packaging and printing company with folding cartons, labels, and commercial print operations. Comparable in folding cartons and pressure-sensitive labels.
• CCL Industries: World's largest specialty label converter with healthcare, consumer, and industrial label operations. Comparable in label manufacturing technology and customer types.

Direct peers

• Graphic Packaging: Major US folding carton and paperboard packaging manufacturer serving CPG brands. Directly comparable in folding cartons and decorative finishing for brand owners.
• Lakeside Book Company: Major US book manufacturing company and a connected entity shown on Phoenix Color's website footer. Directly comparable as a book components and printing peer for the same publisher customer base.
• LSC Communications: One of the largest US book and magazine printers, serving major publishers with similar commercial printing and binding capabilities. Directly comparable end-customer overlap.
• Multi-Color Corporation: Large global label converter serving CPG brands including paint and home care. Closely comparable to Phoenix Color's label segment and Brady Palmer-acquired paint-industry label business.
• Cenveo: US-based printing and packaging company producing commercial print, labels, and envelopes. Comparable in commercial printing, labels, and integrated finishing services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/phoenixcolorcorp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lehigh-phoenix

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Phoenix Color Corp.