Lawton Connect acquires Pinhole Press

GaryPageau ,


Orlando, Fla.-based family-owned printer Lawton Connect announced the acquisition of on-demand photo product company Pinhole Press. The acquisition adds a consumer-facing, premium- high-quality personalized photo company to the century-old printing business.

“Lawton Connect and Pinhole Press unite to form a sophisticated online print engine with 120 years of printing experience,” said Tyler Koon, vice president, Lawton Connect. “Bringing Pinhole Press into the family allows us to expand our e-commerce platform that will enhance our existing business-to-business relationships with an easy-to-use software solution while leveraging our print capabilities to offer an expansion of products for the personalize consumer product market.”

“We are excited to continue the heritage of our evolving print capabilities by adding Pinhole Press to the Lawton family of companies” added Tyler. “We strongly believe in establishing a differentiated print experience and see the acquisition of Pinhole Press as an opportunity to continue that core value.”

Pinhole Press will join two other Lawton Connect brands, Mr. Scratch Off and Mr. Playing Card, with plans to utilize the software capabilities and unique product verticals to reach their entire customer base. Bart Robinson, CRO of Lawton Connect and former Mohawk Paper employee was a key part of the creation of Pinhole Press will lead the integration. Robinson ran the business unit for Mohawk from 2010-2012, the company said.

Lawton Connect was founded in 1900 by J.B. Lawton. Pinhole Press was founded by Mohawk Paper in 2010 and acquired by Livebooks in 2013 for $33 million, Pinhole Press is a lifestyle brand delivering high-quality personalized photo products.

Written by 

Gary Pageau is principal of InfoCircle LLC, continuing his marketing communications career. InfoCircle LLC is a marketing and communications consulting firm, specializing in business-to-business markets. For nearly 25 years, he was with PMA International, serving most recently as Publisher, Content Development and Strategic Initiatives. His primary responsibilities included overseeing the Association’s editorial department, marketing research unit, education and corporate relations department.