Our Story

As the 16th largest supplier in the promotional products industry, Gemline got its start as a distributorship, founded in 1958 by Sam Isaacson. The business slowly grew, and in 1962 Sam started selling combs to school photographers, which later developed into a national program to schools. In 1968, Sam expanded into selling inflatables such as beach balls, cars, and characters for giveaway at service stations. This new product proved successful enough that Sam travelled to Asia to source the product himself.

In 1974, the company began to import travel bags from Asia. As a relatively new practice, Gemline was one of the first to build bags overseas and import them for sale in the United States. Gemline opened its first screenprinting facility in the US in 1978. To provide easy access to Chinese manufacturing facilities and better manage the rest of its Asian production, an office was opened in Hong Kong in 1983.

Jonathan Isaacson, son of Sam Isaacson, joined the company in 1988. In 1992, Jonathan became President and Owner of Gemline. Five years later, Gemline’s corporate headquarters was relocated to Lawrence, MA. In 2001, this space was expanded to 155,000 square feet to accommodate the growing operations. In addition, the Hong Kong office was relocated to a new 55,000 square foot facility in Southern China.

As a leader in design innovation, Gemline has grown its core product line which consisted of padfolios, portfolios, business accessories, backpacks, sport & travel, totes and coolers. Since 2004, Gemline has successfully expanded its offering with new categories including gifts, writing instruments, and Eco-Choice, an earth-friendly line made with organic and recycled fabrics. In addition, the product line focuses on niche markets including women's, all-weather and checkpoint-friendly products.