What it is
Standard-bearer of online folder printing
Company Folders is known as a specialist—and often described as the standard-bearer—of online folder printing: a deep catalog of styles, stocks, and finishing methods, paired with an emphasis on craft and service.
What other shops treated as special-order extras, Company Folders set out to make standard: hundreds of folder styles and die-cuts; a wide range of paper stocks; process and PMS printing; foil stamping; embossing and debossing; and coatings from glossy to matte.
Origin
How a Missing Folder Became a Company
Vladimir Gendelman grew up in Kharkiv, in what was then the Soviet Union, where choice was scarce. After immigrating to the Detroit area around 1990, he ran a computer repair business in the early 2000s. A client asked for branded presentation folders—“company folders.” Online, the market offered little variety.
That gap became the business. In 2003 he founded Company Folders, Inc., naming it in honor of the client who had asked for those first folders. He built it as an online company from the beginning and bootstrapped without traditional bank financing.
Resilience
Near failure, then a harder foundation
By the early 2010s, search traffic was the backbone of the company. In March 2012, a Google unnatural-links penalty cut organic traffic by roughly three-quarters overnight. The business came close to failing. Recovery meant overhauling the site, investing in content and education for designers and buyers, and diversifying how the company reached customers.
That harder foundation supported a new chapter of growth. Company Folders later ranked on Inc. magazine’s list of America’s fastest-growing private companies for three consecutive years (2015–2017).
Today
Craft, selection, and service
By its own count, Company Folders has printed over 40 million folders for more than 15,000 clients. Publicly cited customers have included organizations such as Sony, Hallmark, Ford, Nestlé, Bed Bath & Beyond, Verizon, and MGM, along with universities and government and nonprofit groups—examples among many, not a complete roster.
Soviet sameness is why the largest amount of options matters: Company Folders exists to give buyers a real selection—and to treat them as customers who deserve quality. Vladimir still leads Company Folders from the Detroit area.