Founded in 1911 and chartered in the state of North Carolina as Winston Printing Company, Inc., the business has evolved to the present day now operating as Winston Packaging.

In the early years, the Company was basically a job shop for commercial printing using stone lithography and letterpress. The first generation of the Gordon family serving as owner and president was Alexander Gray (AG) Gordon whose background was that of a journeyman bookbinder. The largest customer at this time was RJ Reynolds Tobacco and they continue to be a customer today.

In 1935, AG Gordon introduced photo lithography in NC and began publishing a monthly magazine focused on hunting and fishing. He pioneered the use of this new process for full color printing of promotional materials for RJ Reynolds and other consumer product companies in the region.

After WWII, the second generation John Russell Gordon succeeded his father AG Gordon in running the family business and promptly applied his engineering skills to modernize the operations. He installed year round climate control by air conditioning the plant and then standardized lighting for more consistent viewing using fluorescent bulbs. In 1955, the Company installed its first sheet-fed offset press and continued to grow this process area by adding multi-color presses over the next 10-15 years. Narrow web Flexographic printing was added in 1978 just before the Company moved to its present location at 8095 North Point Blvd. in 1979. With this move, the change was made to standardize on the 40 inch wide format for offset printing which greatly simplified the pre-press and scheduling of print production. The Company’s first 4-color offset press was added in July 1979 as part of this transition.

In 1984, the third generation James Andrew Gordon was promoted to Company president as the business continued to grow and add new equipment. The first 5-color offset press was added along with a drum scanner for pre-press to bring color separations in-house. The next major equipment upgrade was replacing the original 4-color press with a new 6-color press with in-line tower coater in 1987 to facilitate the Company’s move into folding carton packaging.

During the next ten years the Company continued to progress by adding Power Macintosh computers and image setters to automate the pre-press functions leading up to the introduction of direct imaging technology in 1995. The Company set up a digital division consisting of a Heidelberg 5-color DI press, a Xerox Docutech, and an Agfa Chromapress for small format short run projects. This operation was eventually moved offsite in 1999 and given the name Live Wire Graphics while the traditional operation began using the name Winston Packaging to more accurately reflect the type product being produced.

Over the first decade of the 21st century, the Company became focused exclusively on packaging and discontinued Live Wire Graphics as a separate operation. However, many of the fast track techniques for an all digital workflow mastered at Live Wire Graphics were incorporated back into Winston Packaging with the ultimate objective of using digital printing for packaging applications. These upgrades have streamlined Winston Packaging’s workflow and shortened the turn cycles to better support the Company’s goal of 97% on-time delivery.

Winston Packaging is now operating in its 100th year with a clear direction and a set of core values that has served us well for all these years. The fourth generation, Russell Lindsay Gordon, joined the Company in 2008 and is directly involved in customer service and business development. With a veteran team of skilled operators, modern equipment, and strong management, the Company is well positioned to continue its growth in the consumer product folding cartons and labels business well into its second century.