private industry mail order retail founded 1949 ; 67 years ago 1949 headquarters hillsboro oregon usa 45 32 30 n 122 53 26 w 45.5416455 n 122.8906846 w 45.5416455 ; 122.8906846 coordinates 45 32 30 n 122 53 26 w 45.5416455 n 122.8906846 w 45.5416455 ; 122.8906846 key people martin mcclanan president and ceo 1 revenue 85.6 million usd 2008 1 number of employees 500 2008 1 parent orchard brands 2 website www.normthompson.com norm thompson outfitters is a privately owned catalog and internet retailer based in hillsboro oregon united states . founded in 1949 by norman a. norm thompson as a mail order business it grew to annual sales of 200 million before it was sold to golden gate capital partners in 2006 . the company sells clothing gadgets furniture kitchen items and gift items from its namesake catalog as well as from its solutions and sahalie brands . john difrancesco serves as president and chief executive of the 500 employee company . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 references 4 external links history edit the company was founded by namesake norman anchor thompson sr. in 1949 as a way to sell his homemade flies for fly fishing . 3 4 an immigrant from britain he had settled in salt lake city before fighting for canada in world war i. 4 after the war he lived briefly in los angeles before settling in portland where he owned seven pipe shops and later two nightclubs during world war ii . 4 thompson retired after the war as owner of the nightclubs and tobacco shops . 3 he started the new business as a mail order only business by placing an advertisement in field & stream 5 and around 1951 handed it over to peter alport his son in law . 3 4 alport was in advertising in new york city where he owned parma advertising . 3 he worked to expand the company s product offerings beyond fly fishing items and into clothing and other outdoor merchandise plus he developed the company s slogan of escape from the ordinary . 3 during his tenure norm thompson opened its first retail store in 1959 located in northwest portland . 3 namesake norm thompson died in 1968 from complications related to his exposure to mustard gas during his world war i military service in europe . 4 in 1973 alport sold the business to parker pen company who opened a retail store at the portland international airport in 1975 and discontinued selling fly fishing items in 1977 . 3 parker then sold the entire business to john emrick in 1981 through a leveraged buyout . 3 solutions a home and garden catalog was created by norm thompson outfitters in 1986 followed by the 1990 purchase of early winters which was later re branded as sahalie . 5 about that time they created a sleepwear and underwear catalog and named it the primary layer . in july 1988 the company opened an outlet store near the main store in portland naming it cracker barrel . 6 outlet location in lake oswego oregon by 1989 the company had grown to annual sales of 50 million with 80 percent coming from the mail order business . 3 at that time the company s headquarters and distribution center were in beaverton oregon along the sunset highway at murray boulevard . 3 growth came from creating new catalogs and through acquisitions such as the purchase of seattle based early winters . 3 products ranged from upscale clothing to gourmet food to gadgets and other unusual gift items . 3 ron decker took over as president of the company in 1989 as emrick retained the titles of chairman and chief executive officer ceo . 7 norm thompson outfitters also conducted a once a year warehouse sale in june that brought in around 1 million in revenue through selling closeout type items . 6 in october 1990 the company opened a new outlet location in lake oswego oregon . 8 a norm thompson s catalog was named the 1990 catalog of the year by the national direct mail marketing association . 9 sales grew to around 70 million in 1991 . 9 a downtown portland retail store was added in may 1993 across from the pioneer place shopping center on fourth avenue at a cost of 1 million . 10 11 the 7 200 square foot 670 m2 store was unprofitable and closed in 1996 . 10 11 also in may 1993 the company announced it would relocate the oregon distribution center to the eastern u.s. to be closer to the majority of its customers . 12 that october norm thompson selected a site in jefferson county west virginia for a new 173 000 square foot 16 100 m2 7.5 million distribution facility . 13 at that time 80 percent of the company s sales were east of the mississippi river . 13 norm thompson closed the oregon distribution center in july 1994 14 and sold the site to home depot to become a home improvement store . 15 the building had also served as company headquarters with the business moving to temporary offices near tektronix s then headquarters while they planned a new permanent headquarters in the portland metropolitan area . 16 17 in 1994 sales had grown to 100 million annually and the company had around 350 full time permanent employees . 14 company headquarters in hillsboro construction began on the new headquarters in hillsboro in february 1995 where the company would lease a 54 500 square foot 5 060 m2 building that would cost 6 million to build . 17 located in the tanasbourne neighborhood the two story building was to house around 200 employees with an adjacent call center for 150 employees . 17 designed by sienna architects and developed by the trammell crow company the new building was constructed using some recycled materials . 18 the plan used many energy efficient designs and technology to create a building 40 percent more efficient than what oregon law required . 18 norm thompson grew to sales of 110 million and 400 employees for 1995 but had to cut back the next year when they closed the downtown portland store along with shutting down the primary layer catalog . 11 cuts were made due to poor economic conditions . 11 at the time catalog sales represented 90 percent of revenues and the closed catalog only contributed around 7 percent . 11 after the closures they still had two portland stores and three outlet locations in oregon . 7 also in 1996 rebecca jewett took over as president of the company while john emrick retained his titles as chairman and ceo . 7 the city of portland gave the company a businesses for an environmentally sustainable tomorrow award for energy efficiency in 1997 . 19 following the 2001 anthrax attacks norm thompson stopped using corn starch in the catalog printing process to avoid the appearance of any powdery substance on the catalogs . 20 because of norm thompson outfitters use of environmentally friendly practices including using recycled paper in catalogs the center for a new american dream inducted the company into the green mail hall of fame in 2004 . 21 the company expanded their headquarters in 2005 by leasing an adjacent building . 22 in march 2006 the company closed its original store in northwest portland leaving two outlet stores and the location at the portland airport as their only retail locations . 23 at that time sales at the company had grown to approximately 200 million annually with the sahalie and solutions brands as the largest divisions . 23 sahalie had previously been the early winters brand and catalog . 22 that same month golden gate capital partners catalog holdings subsidiary purchased norm thompson . 5 24 catalog holdings already owned brands such as spiegel and newport news . 5 neale attenborough took over as ceo from emrick after the sale . 25 the hillsboro call center was closed in 2007 with those operations consolidated with a sister company s operations in pennsylvania while the headquarters remained in hillsboro with 150 employees . 26 by 2008 the store at the portland airport had closed to be replaced by a columbia sportswear store . 27 operations edit norm thompson outfitters is headquartered in hillsboro oregon west of portland while the distribution center is in irvine pennsylvania . 28 the company operates three retail outlet stores two in oregon and one in north conway new hampshire . 28 they sell high end items ranging from men s and women s apparel to shoes food gift items . furniture and kitchenware among other products . 5 more than 80 percent of customers are women . 5 the solutions brand is the biggest seller followed by the main norm thompson catalog and sahalie . 23 references edit a b c norm thompson outfitters inc. . hoover s. retrieved 2009 09 15 . charming shoppes completes catalogs sale . philadelphia business journal . september 19 2008 . retrieved 2009 09 15 . dead link a b c d e f g h i j k l hambug ken november 20 1989 . portland s norm thompson is 40 and still growing . the oregonian . p. c9 . a b c d e glaser gabrielle november 21 2005 . norm thompson the inside story . the oregonian . p. c1 . a b c d e f gunderson laura march 14 2006 . catalog adds norm thompson . the oregonian . p. d1 . a b norm thompson to open no frills cracker barrel store . the oregonian . july 30 1988 . p. e1 . a b c hill jim may 9 1996 . norm thompson picks leader . the oregonian . p. b1 . south zoner norm thompson s oswego store to offer balloon rides at opening . the oregonian . october 4 1990 . p. 7 . a b staff june 11 1991 . norm thompson praised . the oregonian . p. c11 . a b hill jim november 26 1992 . norm thompson plans store downtown . the oregonian . p. e18 . a b c d e hill jim february 17 1996 . norm thompson cuts back . the oregonian . p. e1 . blackmun maya may 25 1993 . norm thompson plans to head east . the oregonian . p. c10 . a b staff & wire reports october 27 1993 . the bottom line norm thompson taps w. virginia for mail order distribution center . the oregonian . p. e1 . a b barnett jim june 11 1994 . norm thompson distribution center to close in july . the oregonian . p. d10 . hill jim june 17 1994 . home depot buys norm thompson building . the oregonian . p. c1 . staff reports july 30 1994 . the bottom line norm thompson outfitters inc. plans expansion of headquarters . the oregonian . p. d12 . a b c staff and wire reports february 4 1995 . the bottom line work gets under way in hillsboro on norm thompson headquarters . the oregonian . p. b10 . a b gragg randy january 24 1996 . building takes outdoors in . the oregonian . p. b6 . staff and wire reports april 19 1997 . the bottom line briefcase nine portland businesses win awards for conservation efforts . the oregonian . p. e1 . cole michelle november 1 2001 . handling mail gets serious in oregon . the oregonian . p. a1 . smith jill october 21 2004 . west zoner environmental group honors norm thompson . the oregonian . p. 5 . a b moody robin j. april 12 2005 . norm thompson expanding . portland business journal . retrieved 2009 09 15 . a b c gunderson laura december 5 2005 . flagship retail shop will close . the oregonian . p. b1