greensboro north carolina 1981 founder bob page revenue 80 million owner bob page number of employees 450 website www.replacements.com entrance to replacements ltd. showroom in greensboro nc replacements ltd. based in greensboro north carolina is the world s largest retailer of china crystal and silverware including both patterns still available from manufactures and discontinued patterns . the company which began in 1981 had an inventory in 2011 of 14 million items from more than 340 000 patterns with annual sales of 80 million to 10 million customers . 1 contents 1 history 2 national attention 3 references 4 external links history edit in 1981 bob page left his job as an auditor for the state of north carolina to start a mail order business selling antique china and glassware . 2 located first in his attic and then in 400 square feet on north elm street in greensboro north carolina page s business included merchandise from flea markets and customer requests on index cards . in four years the company went from 159 000 a year to nearly 4 million in sales . the company moved several times each time to larger space at bessemer avenue holbrook street and gallimore dairy road . 3 4 in 1989 sales were over 9 million and the company added flatware also buying its current location on knox road in mcleansville . 3 in october 1990 replacements moved its 1 million item inventory to the new headquarters warehouse . 5 one of the company s services was researching patterns based on photos and rubbings . buyers also searched for items in patterns that were hard to find with sources including gift shops and jewelry stores that were closing . the company restored flatware but china restoration was done only for items to be sold . inventory ranged from glasses given out for filling up at the gas station to flora danica . 4 6 by 1993 replacements had made small additions to its new site which totalled 104 000 square feet and the company planned a 120 000 square foot expansion . 7 in 1999 the pfaltzgraff co. made an agreement with replacements for the company to sell its patterns which were no longer available . this included a list of customers who might want to replace items with the old patterns . replacements made a similar deal with jcpenney . 8 in december 2005 replacements announced plans to expand from 230 000 to 500 000 square feet on 21 acres at a cost of 8 million including a relocation of knox road . once the project was completed the company would no longer need to rent a nearby warehouse . 9 in january 2006 the city of greensboro annexed the land where the company was located though its mailing address remained mcleansville . by this time half of the company s orders came through its web site . sales were 75 million nearly two thirds of that china one sixth flatware and one eighth crystal . 3 on august 12 2008 the company announced plans to increase the size of its headquarters by about 500 000 square feet at a cost of 15 million putting around 550 employees and 12 million items in one location down from four . 10 national attention edit in 1986 inc. named replacements one of the 500 fastest growing businesses in the united states . 4 as far back as 1992 customers included barbra streisand ted kennedy patrick swayze and the vatican . 6 in 1997 victory named page its entrepreneur of the year for his commitment to homosexual employees including partner benefits . 11 in august 2000 oprah winfrey presented a guest with a bowl in a pattern the guest thought she would never be able to find a pattern it had found by working with replacements . 12 in november 2000 animal planet s pet story taped an episode about the company s policy of letting people bring their dogs to work . between 30 and 50 employees did so at the time . around the same time cnn s business unusual also planned to broadcast a story on replacements . 13 that same month a guiding light thanksgiving episode using china supplied by replacements . 14 in november 2001 replacements sold eight pfaltzgraff plates to be used on everybody loves raymond . when the show began china patterns were selected for the home of the fictional barone family . but some of the plates were broken in the course of the series run and pfaltzgraff no longer made the plates . in addition the show needed a pattern not available since 1955 that even replacements did not have but promised to search for . 14 later replacements found tchotchkes of little red riding hood and little bo peep for the family to give as a birthday present to marie . 15 in 2001 the company began running ads on u.s. postal service trucks outside the greensboro area . 16 for its legend ship debuting august 24 2002 carnival cruise lines purchased 500 pieces of china for its main dining room . 17 in its 2003 edition the rand mcnally road atlas named replacements to its list of top 25 free attractions . the company has conducted tours of its warehouse starting in july 1992 . 6 18 references edit business spotlight replacements ltd. greensboro news & record march 27 2011 . james b. stewart may 26 2012 . a company s stand for gay marriage and its cost . new york times . a b c michelle jarboe one dream 25 years thousands of patterns greensboro news & record march 14 2006 . a b c jack scism replacements ltd. a small business success story greensboro news & record may 11 1992 . ncnb earnings down 60 percent from 1989 greensboro news & record october 18 1990 . a b c susan ladd restoring the obsolete greensboro news & record september 30 1992 . jack scism firm expands without waiting for painter plan greensboro news & record march 5 1993 . peter krouse replacements ltd. makes deal to handle orders for company greensboro news & record july 3 1999 . andrea griffith replacements announces expansion of knox road location greensboro news & record december 28 2005 . lanita withers replacements plans big expansion greensboro news & record august 13 2008 . greensboro businessman named top entrepreneur by magazine greensboro news & record march 24 1997 amy joyner replacements cup runneth over with oprah exposure greensboro news & record august 26 2000 . amy joyner two cable networks will air replacements ltd. story greensboro news & record november 18 2000 . a b amy joyner replacements steps up to plate for tv show greensboro news & record november 17 2001 . everybody loves replacements ltd. greensboro news & record december 22 2002 . amy joyner replacements to fly like an eagle with post office greensboro news & record march 26 2001 . amy joyner china set fit for a legend greensboro news & record june 6 2002 . nina pence replacements makes best list greensboro news & record september 15 2002 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title replacements ltd. & oldid 673683182 categories retail companies of the united statescompanies based in greensboro north carolinahidden categories articles created via the article wizard 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