TF Publishing

What TF Publishing does

TF Publishing is a calendar, planner, and stationery publisher incorporated as TFI, Inc., founded in 1996 and headquartered in the Indianapolis, Indiana metro area (Whitestown). The company designs, produces, and sells dated planners (weekly/monthly, monthly, undated, Luxe premium line, teacher/academic), calendars (wall, mini wall, desk pad, daily page desktop), thematic collections (dogs, cats, national parks, birds, inspirational), licensed branded merchandise (Beatles, Sesame Street, NASCAR, Hallmark, Coca-Cola, Maxine, Rainbow Brite, DC Comics/Wonder Woman, Susan Branch), and supplementary stationery (journals, puzzles, planning pads, stickers, state-themed stationery). Production is executed with overseas printing partners, including DCT Printing in South Korea for boxed and wall calendars; sales are operated as direct-to-consumer e-commerce.

The company runs a Shopify-powered storefront (tfpublishing.com) as its primary sales channel, supplemented by a wholesale portal on Faire.com for retailers and resellers, third-party Amazon resellers, and an eBay storefront for international orders outside the US and Canada. Pricing is unit-based, with SKUs ranging from pocket planners at $6.99 to premium desk pads at $19.99 and Luxe undated planners around $22.99, and free shipping threshold at $20 domestically. A wholly-owned subsidiary, TFF (TF Fulfillment), offers third-party logistics, warehousing, Amazon prep, and e-commerce fulfillment services to external businesses, giving the firm both operational control and an adjacent service revenue stream. Ownership is employee-owned, with no outside equity funding disclosed; the leadership team comprises founders Jim Purcell and Tom Forehand and President & CFO Patrick Murray.

TF Publishing operates as a low-headcount (11-50 employees) B2C and B2B product publisher. Its go-to-market combines organic social (primarily Instagram at @tfpublishing), email newsletters, and promotional discount codes with wholesale distribution via Faire and marketplace exposure via Amazon and eBay. The business model is one-time product sales (unit pricing) plus wholesale and 3PL service revenue; there is no subscription tier, no platform/API offering, and no disclosed revenue or headcount growth figures. Distribution is concentrated in North America, with limited international reach mediated through eBay rather than direct fulfillment.

Name

TF Publishing

Legal name

TFI, Inc.

Website

https://tfpublishing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

TF Publishing is a 1996-founded Indianapolis-based calendar, planner, and stationery publisher that designs, prints, and sells dated planners, wall and desk calendars, themed collections, and officially licensed branded merchandise direct to consumers via Shopify, with wholesale through Faire and a 3PL subsidiary.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Whitestown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consumer Product Sales: Direct-to-consumer sales of calendars, planners, journals, and stationery through e-commerce website. One-time product purchases with various price points.
2. Wholesale Distribution: Wholesale channel for retailers and resellers through dedicated wholesale portal (tfpublishing.faire.com)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

TF Publishing prints and supplies calendars, planners, journals, and social stationery goods through its online store tfpublishing.com. The company produces a diversified portfolio of paper-based organizational products including weekly/monthly planners, desk pad calendars, wall calendars, themed collections, and officially licensed branded items, distributed primarily via direct-to-consumer e-commerce and a wholesale channel.

Product overview

TF Publishing is a calendar, planner, and stationery publisher founded in 1996, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company operates as a single-platform publisher offering a diversified portfolio of paper-based organizational products organized across five main categories: (1) Planners including Weekly/Monthly Planners, Monthly Planners, Academic Year Planners, Teacher Planners, Undated Planners, and Luxe Planners available in multiple sizes; (2) Calendars encompassing Wall Calendars, Mini Wall Calendars, Desk Pad Calendars, and Daily Page Desktop Calendars; (3) Themed Collections featuring Dog Calendars, Cat Calendars, National Parks Calendars, Bird Calendars, and Inspirational Calendars; (4) Licensed Products including officially licensed Beatles, Sesame Street, NASCAR, Hallmark, Susan Branch, and other branded items; and (5) Stationery & Accessories including Spiral Journals, Puzzles, Planning Pads, Stickers, and STATE-tionery. The company also operates TF Fulfillment as a separate third-party logistics division. Products are distributed through direct-to-consumer e-commerce, wholesale channels, and Amazon marketplace, with operations based in the Indianapolis metro area using employee-owned fulfillment processes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Weekly/Monthly Planners Planners combining weekly and monthly views, available in three sizes (Large 8.5x11, Medium 6x8, Small 3.5x6.5) to accommodate different organizational preferences and portability needs for individual consumers.
• Monthly Planners Planners featuring monthly overview layouts, available in Large (9x11), Medium (6.5x8), and Small (3.5x6.5) sizes for monthly planning and goal setting.
• Desk Pad Calendars

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• The BeatlescoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed Beatles-branded calendars and planners sold through tfpublishing.com. Products include Beatles Medium Weekly Monthly Planners. Partnership highlighted during Global Beatles Day promotions with promotional discounts.
• Sesame StreetcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed Sesame Street branded products. Part of the company's officially licensed collection featuring beloved children's entertainment brands.
• NASCARcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed NASCAR Cup Series calendars, planners, and posters. Includes NASCAR Cup Schedule posters and NASCAR Medium Weekly Monthly Planners. Products marketed as officially licensed merchandise.
• Coca-ColacoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed Coca-Cola branded planners including Coca-Cola Medium Weekly Monthly Planner. Part of brand licensing portfolio.
• HallmarkcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed Hallmark Cards branded products. Featured among company's licensed partner logos on website.
• Susan BranchflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership spanning nearly two decades with Susan Branch, creator of best-selling calendars. Company produces Susan Branch-branded calendars with behind-the-scenes content featuring the creator. One of the company's key brand partnerships.
• MaxinecoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed Maxine-branded daily and weekly planners including Maxine Daily 2027 Calendar. Part of company's humor/inspirational calendar line.
• Rainbow BriteminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed Rainbow Brite branded products. Part of nostalgic/retro brand licensing collection.
• DC Comics/Wonder WomanminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOfficially licensed DC Comics branded products including Wonder Woman artwork. Part of entertainment licensing portfolio.
• DCT Printing (Korea)minorOthersSouth Korean printing partner used for producing box calendars and wall calendars. TF Publishing employees visited DCT Printing facilities in South Korea to observe 2026 items being printed.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sellers Publishing: Sellers Publishing is a closely-sized independent calendar and planner publisher producing annual themed and licensed calendar lines through direct-to-consumer channels — directly comparable to TF Publishing's niche calendar/planner core business.
• Trends International: Trends International produces licensed calendars, posters, and stationery featuring entertainment and sports IP — a direct comparable to TF Publishing's licensed NASCAR/DC/Beatles product strategy.
• Andrews McMeel Universal: Andrews McMeel Universal is a calendar, gift book, and licensed IP publisher (Peanuts, Dilbert, etc.) sold via mass-market retail and DTC — comparable to TF Publishing in licensed calendar publishing and seasonal dated product cycles.
• Blue Sky Day Designers: Blue Sky produces dated and undated calendars, planners, and desk pads sold through wholesale and DTC channels — the closest mid-sized peer to TF Publishing's planners and wall/desk calendar categories.
• Tangerine Press: Tangerine Press is an independent calendar publisher specializing in art, photographic, and themed wall calendars — closely comparable to TF Publishing's photo-heavy National Parks and bird/dog themed calendar lines.
• Lang Companies: Lang is an independent calendar and stationery publisher producing artistic, themed wall calendars and gift stationery — overlapping with TF Publishing's themed collections and gift-giving calendar business.
• Workman Publishing: Workman Publishing publishes Page-A-Day calendars and a wide range of dated products across calendars and planners — comparable to TF Publishing's core dated calendar/planner mix.

Broad incumbents

• Calendar Holdings: Calendar Holdings is a roll-up of multiple calendar brands (Day Dream, Turner calendars, etc.) operating at larger scale with broader retail distribution — a broader incumbent in the same calendar category as TF Publishing.
• ACCO Brands: ACCO Brands owns AT-A-GLANCE, Brownline, and other date/planner brands and competes in planners, calendars, and organizational products at much larger scale — a broad incumbent competitor.
• Mead (ACCO Brands): Mead's consumer organization portfolio (now under ACCO Brands) sells planners and school/teacher organization products — comparable to TF Publishing's teacher planner and academic year segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/tfpublishing

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 TF Publishing