Once upon a time — for that is how all good stories should begin — there was a small cookbook publishing company owned by a husband and wife (we’ll call them Doug and Wendy for the sake of this tale). One day, while attending a trade show, a man came to their booth and said, “I see that you have cookbooks, but is it possible to find me a beautiful photographic book of San Francisco?” A little confused, but always open to a challenge, Doug said, “I can’t see why not.” He went home, called a couple of other publishers he knew (this was before the internet and Amazon.com), luckily found someone with a San Francisco coffee table book and asked that a sample be sent to the man from the show.

A few weeks passed and Doug went back to his cookbooks, forgetting all about the man from San Francisco. One day, the phone rang at the cookbook publishing office and Doug answered. “I received the sample of the San Francisco book you sent,” said the man. “And I’d like to order 1,500 copies to give to my customers as a holiday gift. You see my company is called Bay Area Bathrobes and our marketing focuses on our love of San Francisco. So this book is perfect for us. We’ve given all sorts of gifts in the past, but a book outshines them all – people love books and never throw them away.” Then he said, “Do you think you can find a way to imprint our company’s logo onto the front cover of each book and perhaps glue in my holiday greeting letter to the inside of each book? I�d be happy to pay you more if you’re able to do this for me.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Eight years and millions of books later – The Book Company has become the premier supplier of blank and customized books in the promotional product industry. And Doug and Wendy are still excited about the new challenges that lie ahead. And they still have a soft spot for San Francisco (and bathrobes) in their hearts.