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Replacements, Ltd.

Replacements, Ltd.
Limited company
Founded Greensboro, North Carolina, 1981
Founder Bob Page
Revenue $80 million
Owner Bob Page
Number of employees
450
Website www.replacements.com

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.

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. 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.

In 1989, sales were over $9 million, and the company added flatware, also buying its current location on Knox Road in McLeansville. In October 1990, Replacements moved its 1-million-item inventory to the new headquarters/warehouse.

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.

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.

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.


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