verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message american greetings corporation llc formerly called sapirstein greeting card company type private industry greeting card founded brooklyn ohio united states 1906 1906 founder jacob sapirstein headquarters westlake ohio united states area served worldwide key people morry weiss chairman zev weiss co ceo jeffrey m. weiss co ceo john w. beeder president and coo erwin weiss senior vice president gregory m. steinberg cfo products greeting cards gift wrap party goods giftware stationery electronic greetings calendars educational products brands carlton tender thoughts just for you gibson care bears the get along gang popples holly hobbie owner weiss family number of employees 27 500 2012 1 subsidiaries carlton cards those characters from cleveland clintons website ag.com american greetings corporation llc is the world s largest greeting card company . based in westlake ohio a suburb of cleveland the company sells paper greeting cards electronic greeting cards party products such as wrapping papers and decorations and electronic expressive content e.g. ringtones and images for cell phones . in addition the company owns the carlton cards tender thoughts just for you and gibson brands . 1 american greetings toy design and licensing division those characters from cleveland now american greetings properties includes copyrighted properties such as care bears topsy and tim the get along gang popples and holly hobbie . american greetings also holds an exclusive license for nickelodeon characters . contents 1 history 2 strawberry shortcake and care bears 3 licenses 4 cartoonists 5 see also 6 sponsorships 7 references 8 external links history edit founded in 1906 by polish immigrant jacob sapirstein 1885 1987 who sold cards from a horse drawn cart american greetings has been run by members of the family since its inception . irving i. stone sapirstein s oldest son who changed his surname to stone was stuffing envelopes at age five handling the business during his father s illness when he was nine and worked for the company full time upon leaving high school . he was succeeded as ceo by his son in law morry weiss in 1987 and stone took the title founder chairman previously held by his father when weiss became chairman in 1992 before dying in 2000 . in 1993 american greetings began sponsoring the entertainment tonight birthdays also in that same year the company also introduced its new corporate mascot the birthday bear ag remained sponsor until 2000 when competitor hallmark cards assumed sponsorship . in 1999 the company bought rival gibson greetings and united the second and third largest u.s. greeting card makers . 2 in 2003 morry weiss s sons zev and jeffrey became ceo and president respectively ; morry weiss remains chairman . in early 2007 american greetings replaced kellogg s as the sponsor for dragon tales . citation needed american greetings has also branched out onto the internet and owns a network of websites . october 25 2007 it announced the purchase of webshots from cnet for 45 million in cash . 3 in october 2005 american greetings recalled its sesame street toy sunglasses sold from december 2003 through august 2005 because the lenses can separate from the frames posing a choking hazard to young children . 4 in 2010 american greetings announced plans to move its headquarters from brooklyn ohio to a new facility at crocker park within the nearby city of westlake . 5 however in 2013 the company announced it would delay moving its operations to westlake . construction had been scheduled to start in early 2013 and american greetings said it was only delaying the 150 to 200 million project . in june 2012 american greetings acquired assets from clinton cards plc together with some of its subsidiaries . 6 american greetings went private once again in 2013 thus removing itself from all the public markets agreeing to pay 18.20 per share valuing the company at 878 million . 7 in 2014 american greetings sold its brooklyn ohio headquarters to developers and began renting its current offices from the new owners until the move to westlake which is scheduled for mid 2016 . 8 american greetings operates with four divisions 9 10 north american social expression products international social expression products ag interactive webshots was formerly part of ag interactive 11 a non reportable operating segment sometimes referred to as retail 9 strawberry shortcake and care bears edit in july 2008 american greetings announced the sale of its strawberry shortcake and care bears properties to dic entertainment now part of cookie jar entertainment . however january 9 2009 it announced that the planned sale had been canceled . 12 as a result the properties remain under american greetings ownership as the company searches for a new buyer . march 24 2009 moonscoop offered to pay 95 million for the care bears and strawberry shortcake properties and related rights held by cookie jar . under that deal american greetings would pocket 76 million for the animation assets while cookie jar would get 19 million for its own rights . 13 march 30 2009 cookie jar made a 76 million counter bid for care bears and strawberry shortcake . cookie jar had until april 30 2009 to complete the deal . if cookie jar failed to close the deal moonscoop had until june 7 2009 to complete its own deal with american greetings . 13 in may 2009 american greetings filed a 100 million lawsuit against cookie jar with cookie jar filing a 25 million countersuit against american greetings over the care bears and strawberry shortcake deal . 14 15 in august 2009 moonscoop filed a lawsuit against american greetings over the care bears and strawberry shortcake deal . 16 17 in february 2015 iconix brand group acquired the rights to strawberry shortcake from american greetings for 105 million . 18 19 licenses edit note not all licenses are original creations by american greetings . some were licensed from third parties where indicated betsy s kindergarten adventures care bears the electric company 2009 tv series the get along gang herself the elf holly hobbie original holly hobbie & friends kelly clarkson 20 lady lovely locks madballs maryoku yummy my pet monster packages from planet x paintbox studios peppermint rose popples pretty freekin scary ring raiders strawberry shortcake sushi pack created by studio espinosa and cloudco 21 tinpo created by unkl 22 topsy and tim twisted whiskers cartoonists edit r. crumb peter guren ask shagg see also edit cardmaking carlton cards american greetings canadian branch . carlton cards retail american greetings store management . john sands company australian subsidiary british subsidiary uk greetings 23 clintons formerly clinton cards uk card retailer acquired by american greetings in 2012 sponsorships edit sesame street references edit a b american greetings form 10 k annual report pdf . securities and exchange commission . april 30 2012 . retrieved january 6 2013 . american greetings to buy rival . reading eagle . associated press . november 4 1999 . retrieved june 18 2013 . american greetings form 8 k current report . securities and exchange commission . december 20 2007 . retrieved january 6 2013 . cpsc american greetings corp. announce recall of sesame street sunglasses press release . u.s. consumer product safety commission . september 1 2005 . retrieved december 8 2014 . cho janet january 7 2010 . american greetings may pull its world headquarters out of brooklyn ohio . the plain dealer . cleveland . retrieved january 7 2010 . brooklyn ohio american greetings corp. the nation s largest publicly held greeting card manufacturer is exploring moving its global headquarters from brooklyn to another community maybe even out of state with lower taxes . us company american greetings acquires clinton cards . the guardian . june 7 2012 . archived from the original on october 6 2014 . cho janet h. april 1 2013 . american greetings weiss family aims to take the company private again via an 878 million offer for outstanding shares . the plain dealer . retrieved april 4 2013 . mcfee michelle jarboe 1 july 2014 . american greetings sells brooklyn headquarters ; lichter semarjian plan 150 acre industrial park . cleveland.com . retrieved 9 may 2015 . a b company overview of american greetings corp. . bloomberg businessweek . 2014 . archived from the original on october 6 2014 . mckee tyler march 30 2011 . higher prices still in the cards for american greetings . forbes . archived from the original on october 6 2014 . company overview of ag interactive inc. . bloomberg businessweek . 2014 . archived from the original on october 6 2014 . grant allison november 26 2012 . american greetings wins case against moonscoop over strawberry shortcake and care bears . the plain dealer . retrieved 2014 12 08 . a b american greetings form 8 k current report . securities and exchange commission . march 30 2009 . retrieved january 6 2013 . american greetings form 8 k current report pdf . securities and exchange commission . may 12 2009 . retrieved january 6 2013 . brooklyn based american greetings accuses cookie jar entertainment of bad faith in strawberry shortcake care bears deal . the plain dealer . may 12 2009 . retrieved may 12 2009 . american greetings form 10 q quarterly report pdf . securities and exchange commission . october 7 2009 . retrieved january 6 2013 . moonscoop sues american greetings over care bears and strawberry shortcake . the plain dealer . august 13 2009 . retrieved august 16 2009 . atkinson claire 3 february 2015 . strawberry shortcake is new it girl for iconix . new york post . retrieved 7 february 2015 . associated press 3 february 2015 . snoopy owner iconix to buy strawberry shortcake for 105m . abc news . retrieved 7 february 2015 . philpot robert april 7 2015 . kelly clarkson launches greeting card line . star telegram.com . star telegram . retrieved april 8 2015 . studio espinosa illustration . studioespinosa.com . retrieved 29 june 2015 . unkl tees tees & more tees . unklbrand.com . retrieved 29 june 2015 . uk greetings greeting card gift wrap social expression publisher . ukgreetings.co.uk . archived from the original on 9 may 2015 . retrieved 29 june 2015 . external links edit american greetings american greetings properties american greetings sec filings retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title american greetings & oldid 743798695 categories american greetingscompanies formerly listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies established in 1906companies based in clevelandgreeting cards1906 establishments in ohiohidden categories articles needing additional references from april 2009all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with 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