Our History

Malloy Lithographing, Inc. - 1961

The Early Years
Malloy Incorporated was founded as Malloy Lithographing, Inc. on July 18, 1960 by Jim Malloy and his brother-in-law Dick Dorow. Until 1948 Jim Malloy had been the Production Manager at Edwards Brothers. In 1948 Jim left Edwards Brothers, along with Bert Cushing, to found Cushing-Malloy on North Main Street in Ann Arbor. However, in 1958 Jim sold his interest in Cushing-Malloy to the Cushing family and left that company. Dick Dorow's previous affiliation had been with the Argus Camera Company in Ann Arbor.

After opening for business, Jim and Dick both worked full-time for Malloy. At that time there were less than a dozen other full time employees of the company. Malloy's sales in its first full year of operation were $79,254.

From its inception, Malloy's principle product was books, and the company's original customers were, for the most part, located within 150 miles of Ann Arbor. One large customer in the early and mid-1960's was Willow Run Laboratories, whose product was classified manuals and documents for the U.S. Defense Department. School yearbooks also comprised a large portion of Malloy's output.

Much of Jim's and Dick's life savings went toward buying the building and the equipment necessary to produce books. The original building was placed on the same site where the company is located today, on Jackson Road, just west of Ann Arbor, Michigan. It occupied 6,060 square feet. This original part of Malloy's building now houses the Administrative, Marketing, Customer Service, and Pricing Departments. The company's original equipment consisted primarily of a Lanston horizontal camera, a 23" x 36" Miehle single color press, an 11" x 17" 1250W Multilith single color press, a 26" x 40" Baum folder, and a 39" Lawson guillotine paper cutter. There was no automated binding equipment, as books were bound by hand.

Growth and Transition
In 1966 the company's sales had climbed to just under $500,000. In that year Herb Upton bought the company, with some financial assistance from his two brothers and his parents. Herb continues to serve as Chairman of Malloy today, and his two sons, Bill and Joe, are in the respective roles of President and Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

By the time they sold the company, Jim and Dick had acquired several other key pieces of equipment. However, more importantly, they had established a loyal group of customers, and they had hired and trained a skilled and enthusiastic staff.

As had been his plan, Jim retired from the company a few months after the sale, though he made regular visits to Malloy until just a few years before his death in 1994. Dick continued to work for Malloy until 1982 when poor health forced him to retire. Dick passed away in 1985.

Malloy Incorporated - 2000

Malloy Today
Malloy's building now occupies over 180,000 square feet. The company's sales are approximately $40 million, and its staff numbers around 325. Malloy has established a tradition as an innovator in the book manufacturing industry. Some of the company's major innovations include the following:

• Malloy was the first book printer in the United States to install a Timson T32 web press in 1982. Timson webs are now used by scores of book printers around the world.
• In the early 1990's, Malloy's staff worked closely with Dr. Werner Rebsamen, of the Rochester Institute of Technology, in developing the RepKover method of lay-flat binding.
• In 1994, Malloy was one of the first book manufacturers to adopt computer-to-plate technology as its primary process for producing plates.
• In 1999, Malloy was a leader in providing its customers with on-line access to information on their print orders, including up-to-the minute data on the status of each of their titles in production.

This list of innovations will continue to grow in the coming years.

Today, Malloy provides manufacturing services for hard and soft cover books to publishers of all sizes, in all segments of the publishing industry, in all parts of the United States. The company's customer service staff averages more than twenty-five years of service at Malloy. Publishers of all sizes frequently comment on how Malloy's customer service staff makes the publisher's job easier.

Over the years, many people have contributed a great deal to Malloy. Their efforts have helped us to earn the loyalty and respect of hundreds of publishers throughout the United States. Those of us who work for Malloy today owe a great debt to all those people who helped shape this company in its formative years.