Quad (company)

Founding and first national contracts Harry V. Quadracci founded Quad, originally named Quad/Graphics, on July 13, 1971, in an abandoned Pewaukee, Wisconsin, factory. Over the next few years, Quad continued to grow and had 100 workers and three presses by 1976, and 300 workers and six presses in 1979. In 2002, Tom Quadracci took over as company president and CEO after the death of his brother Harry. In 2004, Tom took over as chairman and CEO, and, in 2006, Joel Quadracci, Harry’s son, was promoted to president and COO. Quad’s listing was not an IPO because it was not done in order to raise cash, but instead was necessary to complete a stock exchange with World Color as part of the acquisition. The company managed studio operations in cooperation with LL Bean’s Photography Operations and Creative Department. In September 2017, Quad won a $450 million contract to print all of Bluestem Brands' catalogs. That same year, Quad gained a majority interest in Rise Interactive, a Chicago-based digital marketing agency. One year later, Quad completed the acquisition of Periscope, a creative agency headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In February 2019, Quad announced a name and logo update, changing its name from Quad/Graphics to Quad. In 2024, Package InSight’s Consumer Research Labs expanded inside Quad’s Marketing Experience Innovation in West Allis, Wisconsin, to let brands test packages and research the reactions and preferences of real shoppers in mock retail environments. In 2022, Quad’s creative agency launched Favorite Child as its brand design house, which offers design strategy, brand identity, packaging and retail design services. Favorite Child supports brands such as Titleist and Aldi. In 2024, Quad launched a new creative agency named Betty, in honor of the late Betty Quadracci. This new entity consolidates Quad's creative capabilities, including the creative and content production agency brands Ivie & Associates Inc. and Periscope. Additionally, in 2024, Quad introduced InStore Connect, an in-store retail media network technology. Partnering with The Save Mart Companies, the initial rollout of this technology will be across 15 stores. Since its launch, Quad has added other retailers, including Homeland Stores and Vallarta Supermarkets. == Services ==

Quad offers marketing and print services and products. These services include: • Campaign planning • Marketing outsourcing • Production service outsourcing • Intelligence • Data and analytics • Technology services • Media services • Creative and content services • Managed services • Execution in non-print channels (broadcast and digital) • In-store marketing and promotion • Print execution and logistics • Sourcing and procurement In 2023, Quad released a new campaign, “Built on Quad”. This was the company’s first large-scale marketing and advertising campaign focused on Quad’s “end-to-end” services and products. == Operations ==

At the end of 2025, Quad had 33 manufacturing and distribution facilities and 50 client-based on-site locations. In 2023, Quad had over 2,700 clients and 13,000 employees. In 1990, Harry V. Quadracci founded QuadMed to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of employee healthcare, serving as a provider of onsite primary care services to employees and their families. Today QuadMed provides workplace health services for employers across the country. People Joel Quadracci is the Chairman and CEO of Quad. In 2023, Quad appointed Beth-Ann Eason to its board of directors and Compensation Committee. In October, Quad appointed Melanie Huet as a board member. Huet is President of Brand Management & Innovation and a member of the Executive Committee at Newell Brands, a consumer products company. == Acquisitions and consolidation ==

In 1983, Quad/Graphics purchased Milwaukee Magazine, and made Betty Quadracci (the wife of Harry V. Quadracci) the president and publisher. In 2014, Quad acquired UniGraphic Inc., “one of the largest commercial printers in the Boston metro area.” In February 2015, Quad acquired Marin’s International, a French company operating in the point-of-sale display industry. In July 2016, Quad announced a $12 million minority investment in Rise Interactive, a Chicago-based digital marketing agency. The majority interest investment was made soon after Quad’s acquisition of Ivie & Associates Inc., a marketing and advertising firm with North American headquarters in Flower Mound, Texas. However, in June 2019 the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division sued to block the acquisition. Since 2010 the company has closed 47 printing facilities in response to changing media and advertising trends. In November 2018, as part of its continued diversification, Quad agreed to purchase Minneapolis-based advertising firm Periscope, Inc., for $132 million, a deal which closed in January 2019. Slated for early 2021, the planned closures impacted approximately 650 workers. Based in Mexico City, near Quad’s existing Mexico operations, Apple Tree is part of Quad’s in-store marketing group. In October 2023, Quad announced that it would cease operations at its Effingham, Illinois print manufacturing location by the end of the year, impacting 350 employees. Quad attributed the decision to industry-wide volume declines due to ongoing economic uncertainty and increasing postage rates. In March 2025, Quad completed the sale of its European operations for €41 million (approximately $42 million) to Germany-based private capital investment manager Capmont. The transaction included all employees and facilities for Quad/Graphics Europe print and ink-manufacturing headquartered in Wyszków, Poland; the Peppermint agency in Warsaw, Poland; and Quad POS (including Marin’s International SAS), which has locations throughout Europe. == Controversies ==

On July 1, 2020, at least five employees at Periscope walked out in protest against Quad, alleging "interference by its parent company in Periscope’s social media communications about the Black Lives Matter movement and staffer concerns that Quad was releasing deceptive data about its employee diversity." The walk-out was led by a group strategy director at Periscope who, weeks earlier, had started a movement to address the "systemic racism that is afflicting our industry." On July 2, 2020, approximately 150 employees walked out, consisting of nearly the entire Periscope Minneapolis office. After the walkout, Quad gave Periscope editorial independence over its social media posts and apologized for being “slow to communicate its commitment to ending systemic racism". == Office locations ==

Quad is headquartered in Sussex, Wisconsin. It included space for pop-up experiences for clients without physical stores in Manhattan, event space, and space for two of the company’s acquisitions, Periscope and Rise Interactive. ==References==