parsonsKellogg
Sometimes, innovation is evident in the simplest form. Take local promotional product company parsonsKellogg. In 2001, fresh off a stint as a sales manager for Nike, Rhode Island native Tom Kellogg started parsonsKellogg with a six-color golf logo machine and one employee - himself. Now, with 22 employees, parsonsKellogg is the one-stop shop for big corporations to buy and design their promotional products.
For the first few years of his business, Kellogg was known as the "golf guy" for companies such as Buick and Accenture. By recognizing the customer's need for other products, parsonsKellogg added other items such as tennis balls, golf bags and polo shirts. The company now holds onto more than 60 brands of promotional products - from Apple to Fossil and Sony - that can be customized for their clients.
Kellogg's "golf guy" persona didn't just stem from his work on his golf logo machine. Before he founded parsonsKellogg, Kellogg gained golf and promotional product expertise with his previous career working for Asics Tiger, Oakley and Nike. In fact, it was a former Nike colleague who encouraged Kellogg to stick with the golf theme and buy the logo machine.
Soon after, Kellogg's one-man business turned into much more than he expected. Within a year, Nike turned to parsonsKellogg to handle some of their key co-branding corporate initiatives across all of their product categories. Eventually, parsonsKellogg leveraged their success with Nike to forge partnerships with all of the major golf and sporting goods brands including Callaway, Titleist-Foot-Joy, Taylor Made-Adidas, and Fairway and Greene.
In 2003, parsonsKellogg experienced explosive growth and hired employees to match the increase in the company's client base. With parsonsKellogg's impressive growth spurt, the company was poised to go beyond the sporting segment and began providing a set of luxury-class products to serve all their clients' needs. They expanded their product partners to include luxury brands such as Tumi and Maui Jim, creating a full-range of sporting and luxury products.
With their expanded services and employees, Kellogg decided to move the company to a 12,500-square-foot combined warehouse/office facility in East Providence. Kellogg's new space allows his company to keep a large amount of inventory at the ready for clients seeking large rush orders.
Today, parsonsKellogg is experiencing yet another growth spurt - creating custom websites, gift cards and running client's events.
Tom Kellogg started his business to fulfill a need he saw unmet in the gigantic corporate world of sports. parsonsKellogg is a company with a simple innovative story - a one-man business turned into a thriving global company. Innovation: evident in the simplest form.