CROSSMARK’s Centennial: 1905 - 2005
Our First 100 Years of Service

CROSSMARK’s roots can be traced back more than a hundred years ago to 1905. When our company was founded, the average American earned $15 to $25 a week. There were very few cars or planes, no cell phones, no computers – none of the things we take for granted today. It’s hard to believe, but there were also no supermarkets or supercenters. Sixty percent of Americans lived in rural areas, so stores carried the most basic groceries like eggs and milk, as well as animal feed and farm equipment.

This was the world of a young man named Willis Johnson, who teamed up with E. Leslie Hunt to start a new company – Johnson & Hunt Merchandise Brokers.

In 1905, Fort Smith, Arkansas, was a booming town poised on the edge of a new frontier. Because it was known as “the gateway to the western territories,” Johnson and Hunt believed that Fort Smith was a great place to start a brokerage business.

Unfortunately, in the early 1900s, the Great Fort Smith Cyclone ripped through town and basically destroyed the central business district. By 1914, Johnson recognized that the market was going to be consolidated into Little Rock, Arkansas, and he decided to move. Hunt gave up his partnership and stayed behind in Fort Smith.

The move to Little Rock was good for Johnson and his young company; both quickly garnered tremendous respect from manufacturers, retailers and other industry leaders. In 1929, despite being from such a small market, Johnson was elected chairman of the National Food Brokers Association.

In the early 1940s, Willis Johnson, Jr., took over as president of the company, until World War II broke out and he joined the Navy. While the was away, his brother-in-law, Bill Powell, stepped in to run the company. Meanwhile, Willis Johnson, Sr., served his country for two years after he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the National Office of Price & Administration in 1943.

Over the years, the Willis Johnson Company continued to grow. In 1959 – exactly 30 years after his father held the position – Willis Johnson, Jr., was elected chairman of the National Food Brokers Association.

In the years that followed, two new partners joined the company – Bill’s son, Peter Powell, and Austin Bell. Following in the footsteps of the founder and his son, Bell would also serve as chairman of the National Food Brokers Association one day.

At the same time that the Willis Johnson Company was expanding, there were two other companies emerging during this period that many referred to as “the golden age of the entrepreneur.” They were The Gordon Company and The Phillips Company, and both were founded by entrepreneurs who recognized the tremendous opportunities.

In 1944, Red Gordon founded The W.L. Gordon Company in Dallas, Texas. After eventually expanding into New Mexico and Oklahoma, it soon became a force to be reckoned with in the Southwest. In 1967, Fred Arnold joined The Gordon Company and led the company through a period of explosive growth – from 32 employees in ‘67 to more than 800 in ‘96. Just like his industry colleagues at the Willis Johnson Company, Arnold would also serve as chairman of the National Food Brokers Association.

While The Gordon Company was expanding, another company was born that would one day become part of CROSSMARK’s heritage. In 1953, Bill Phillips started a brokerage company at his parents’ kitchen table in Birmingham, Alabama. Led by Phillips – another future chairman of the National Food Brokers Association, his regional company would also grow by leaps and bounds over the next few decades.

Throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s, these three companies – the Willis Johnson Company (which eventually changed its name to SALESMARK), The Gordon Company and The Phillips Company – continued to grow and prosper. And all three companies shared many of the same qualities: strong leadership, exceptional people, and the ability to identify changes in the marketplace, anticipate opportunities for clients, and take action to capitalize on those opportunities.

In the late 80s, Austin Bell attended a Wal-Mart stockholder’s meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas. At the meeting, Wal-Mart’s Sam Walton shared his plan to open 12 Supercenters in the south and his desire to become the largest food retailer in the U.S. At the time, there were over 50 brokers in the region. Only two of them saw the opportunity and seized it – SALES- MARK was one and The Gordon Company was the other. SALESMARK and Gordon would quickly become the number one and number two agencies at Wal-Mart.

“The shot heard round the industry” was fired in October of 1995 when SALESMARK, The Gordon Company and The Phillips Company announced that they were merging. Fred Arnold, Austin Bell, Bill Phillips and Peter Powell united with a common vision, and by 1996, the merger was completed – and CROSSMARK was born!

By 2000, CROSSMARK had completed 55 mergers and acquisitions with some of the biggest names in the business, including: Pfeister, Dulin, Bradshaw, Allegiance, J.W. Riley, Sell Group, Tom Flemming, FMS, and Keystone Howley White. Each of these companies had their own rich histories, and each played an important role in helping CROSSMARK become a leader in its industry.

In 2002, another company milestone occurred when CROSSMARK broke ground in Plano, Texas, on its own stand-alone building. Sixteen months later, in August 2003, CROSSMARK’s beautiful corporate headquarters was completed, providing a place for corporate associates to work, create and collaborate with clients.

Today, CROSSMARK is one of the largest providers of business services to manufacturers and retailers in the consumer goods industry. We are recognized for our excellent customer service, for using technology to benefit our clients, for our customized client solutions, and for our unparalleled execution. CROSSMARK’s clients and customers have some of the most famous brand names in the world. And those clients are being served by thousands of CROSSMARK associates throughout the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

We’re proud to look back at our rich history and celebrate the men and women who built this company for the past 100 years. But we also proudly look to the future and to our people, who will make us great for the next 100 years. There will always be challenges in the marketplace, but one thing is certain and timeless – CROSSMARK is committed to being the best business services company within the consumer goods industry. We believe – for our people and for our clients – the best is yet to come!