Cartamundi…A Heart for Cards
Cartamundi lives up to its name! In Latin, cartamundi means “cards for the world.” With almost 250 years of experience, 7 manufacturing facilities, 11 international branches, hundreds of agents and distributors in more than 50 countries, Cartamundi has established itself as the worldwide playing card leader!
Company History
In 1970, Cartamundi was founded in Turnhout, Belgium, as a joint venture between 3 long-established printing companies: Brepols,Van Genechten and Biermans. Their history started as early as 1765. More than 200 years of combined know-how experience in manufacturing playing cards!
In 1993, Cartamundi France SARL was established just outside Paris to better cater to the growing French market.
In 1994, Cartamundi, Inc. was created to enter the U.S. market as a sales office in Kentucky. Shortly after that, in 1996, the U.S. headquarters (manufacturing facility) was established and began production in Kingsport, Tennessee.
In 1999, Cartamundi took over Swiss AGMüller as its first acquisition. Later in 2001, it was integrated with Urania Verlags AG(its parent company) which enabled Cartamundi to strengthen its position on the world market of Tarot cards. In addition, Cartamundi Nordic was also founded in 1999.
In 2000, the German company Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkartenwas integrated into Cartamundi. Also in that year, Cartamundi Hungary Kft. was established in Budapest, Hungary.
In 2002, in order to further strengthen Cartamundi’s position on the German market, Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg was acquired. In the same year, Cartamundi Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. and Cartamundi Españawere established to give a better service to the regional customers.
In 2003, Cartamundi gained control of Games & Print Services, Ltd., an important player in the U.K. print services and games assembly business.
In 2005, Cartamundi acquired 50% shares of Copag, the world renowned manufacturer of 100% plastic playing cards. Cartamundi also expanded to Poland by acquiring Dertor Poland.
In 2006, as a result of the tremendous growth in the U.S. market, Cartamundi acquired Yaquinto Printing Company. Established in Dallas, Texas in 1961, Yaquinto provides a complete turnkey service from prepress through fulfillment and delivery. Specializing in UV & plastic printing, trading cards & collectibles, card games, POS/POP items and folding cartons, Yaquinto is the largest acquisition in Cartamundi’s history!
In mid-2007, Cartamundi USA Headquarters was relocated from Kingsport to the Yaquinto facility in Dallas. To accomodate the growth, a new state-of-the-art building is in development for 2008.
Renovation of a new 300,000 sq. ft. facility in Dallas began in September 2008. By January of 2009, after more than a year of engineers, contractors, inspectors and movers, Cartamundi USA fully occupied its new home.
In 2009, to better service the needs of both our card and game customers, Cartamundi USA acquired the equipment and personnel needed to become a first class specialty packaging provider. As a result, we began offering these services to non-card customers.
Our Creative Packaging Solutions galleries convey the wide range of service offerings available. The addition of a second KBA Rapida 106 41-inch 10-color full-UV perfecting press dramatically expanded print offerings and improved overall workflow.
In 2011, Elite Packaging by Cartamundi was born. With offices in Los Angeles, California, Elite services the packaging needs of the entertainment studios in the Los Angeles and Burbank area.
A major production of 2012 was the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection, which by most accounts is the most elaborate DVD boxed set ever.
The success of Elite Packaging in California and universal customer acceptance of the Elite Packaging brand resulted in the expansion of our non-card manufacturing even further. From 2011 to 2015, we added three Emicci rigid box machines to our internal, major equipment list in Dallas.
In late 2015, the Cartamundi Group acquired Hasbro’s manufacturing facilities in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Waterford, Ireland, expanding our production of card and board games around the world.
2015 also saw Cartamundi winning the Company of the Year Award from BelCham, the Belgian Chamber of Commerce, for strengthening the American market and the economic ties between Belgium and the USA. The future is bright for Cartamundi!