U.S. based Great Northern continues its expansion and growth initiative through the acquisition of Chicago-based United Displaycraft, an industry-leading, custom manufacturer of permanent display solutions that promote products at retail. The company is a full service manufacturer producing metal, wire, wood, and print solutions from its facilities in Des Plains and Belvidere, Illinois, and also has a strong Asian sourcing process to complement internal manufacturing to provide permanent and interactive display capabilities.
Through this acquisition, Great Northern Instore can now offer a more robust portfolio of merchandising display solutions that include a full range of permanent, interactive, semi-perm and temporary display capabilities. Mike Schliesmann, Sr. VP, Business Unit Manager, said, “With this expansion of resources and capabilities, Great Northern Instore can create more impactful and compelling shopping experiences to fully engage shoppers at retail as an answer to e-commerce competition.”
“The acquisition combines two successful, privately-owned companies with similar cultures and values. Both companies are employee focused and customer driven with experienced creative teams, and share a deep commitment to quality, innovation, and service,” explained John Davis, CEO of Great Northern.
United Displaycraft will continue to operate under the United Displaycraft brand after the acquisition, and target fully transitioning to the Great Northern Instore brand in early-2019. Rich Carrigan, United Displaycraft’s current President, will continue to lead United Displaycraft after the acquisition. “We are excited for the opportunity our team has to work with the Great Northern Instore group and bring our expanded combined capabilities to our customers,” he said. “I know Great Northern’s team is equally excited about what this acquisition means for their customer base.”
