imported>Aadirulez8: v2.05 - Fix errors for CW project (Spelling and typography)

2025-05-25T17:12:13Z

v2.05 - Fix errors for CW project (Spelling and typography)

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{{Short description|Fortune 1000 technology company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = PC Connection, Inc.
| logo = Connection_logo,_recently_updated_as_of_September_8,_2016,_associated_with_the_public_company,_Connection,_ticker_symbol_CNXN.png
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{NASDAQ|CNXN}}<br>[[List of S&P 600 companies|S&P 600 Component]]<br>[[Russell 2000 Index|Russell 2000 Component]]
| founder = [[Patricia Gallup]]
| key_people = [[Patricia Gallup]] ([[chairman]])<br />Timothy McGrath ([[President (corporate title)|president]] and [[Chief executive officer|CEO]])<br />[[Thomas C. Baker (businessperson)|Thomas C. Baker]] ([[Senior vice president|SVP]], [[Chief financial officer|CFO]], and Treasurer)
| industry =
| products = [[Notebooks/Mobility]], [[Software]], Servers/Storage, [[Net/Com Product]], [[Other Hardware/Services]]
| revenue = {{profit}}$3.2 billion [[United States dollar|USD]] (2022)
| num_employees = 2,600+
| foundation = {{start date and age|1982}}
| location_city = [[Merrimack, New Hampshire]]
| location_country = U.S.
| homepage = {{Official website}}
}}

'''PC Connection, Inc.''', [[doing business as]] '''Connection''', is headquartered in [[Merrimack, New Hampshire|Merrimack]], [[New Hampshire]]. It has more than 2,600 employees<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.4-traders.com/PC-CONNECTION-INC-10411/news/PC-Connection-New-Connection-Brand-Advances-35-Year-History-of-Innovation-23022730|title=PC Connection: New "Connection" Brand Advances 35-Year History of Innovation) |accessdate=September 8, 2016|publisher=[[4-traders]]}}</ref> and sells more than 460,000 products.<ref name=Reuters>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=PCCC.O |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610195108/http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=PCCC.O |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 10, 2015 |title=Profile: PC Connection Inc |publisher=Reuters |accessdate=November 15, 2013}}</ref>

Founded in 1982, Connection has grown to include IT services to SMB, enterprise, and public sector markets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/connection-brand-advances-35-history-120000146.html|title=PC Connection: New "Connection" Brand Advances 35-Year History of Innovation) |accessdate=September 8, 2016|publisher=[[Yahoo Finance]]}}</ref>

==History==

PC Connection, Inc. was founded in 1982 by Patricia Gallup and David Hall. The co-founders met while serving as a support crew to hikers on the [[Appalachian Trail]].<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.inc.com/magazine/19980515/1123.html You, Me, and All Those Others Just Like Us, Starting a Business Article | Inc.com]</ref>

The company's first headquarters occupied a former woodworking mill in [[Marlow, New Hampshire|Marlow, NH]]<ref name=autogenerated1 /> population 542 at the time. To launch their business, Gallup and Hall used Gallup's savings of $8,000 to purchase inventory and take out a 1/9th-page ad in [[Byte magazine]].<ref name=autogenerated5>[http://www.pageturnpro.com/A-division-of-New-England-Business-Media-LLC/35311-New-Hampshire-First-In-the-Nation/index.html#172 [New Hampshire: First In the Nation] – Powered by PageTurnPro.com]</ref> In 1984, they started selling Macintosh products under the MacConnection brand.

In 1987, PC Connection was named to the Inc. 500 as the second fastest growing company in the United States.<ref name=autogenerated4>[http://www.pageturnpro.com/A-division-of-New-England-Business-Media-LLC/35311-New-Hampshire-First-In-the-Nation/defaultie.html#172 [New Hampshire: First In the Nation] – Powered by PageTurnPro.com]</ref>

In March 1998, the company completed its initial public offering on the [[NASDAQ]] exchange under the symbol PCCC.<ref name=autogenerated2>[http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/company/pc-connection-inc-3148-5311 Pc Connection Inc (Pccc) Ipo - Nasdaq.Com]</ref>

In September 2016, the company announced that it would rebrand as simply Connection, in an effort to unify its divisions. The company stated that the new name "better reflects the promise of our future and the successes of our past".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nagel |first=David |date=2016-09-08 |title=Connection Merges GovConnection, PC Connection, MoreDirect, Softmart into Single Brand |url=https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/09/08/connection-merges-govconnection-pc-connection-moredirect-softmart-into-single-brand.aspx |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=THE Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Locations==

In addition to its corporate headquarters in Merrimack, PC Connection, Inc. has sales and support offices in Keene, New Hampshire; Rockville, Maryland; Dakota Dunes, South Dakota; Boca Raton, Florida; Schaumburg, IL; and Exton, Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcconnection.com/IPA/Content/Careers/Locations.htm |title=Locations – Connection |publisher=Pcconnection.com |date= |accessdate=2016-09-09}}</ref> The company operates a 268,000-square-foot distribution and fulfillment complex, equipped with a technical configuration lab in Wilmington, Ohio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcconnection.com/it-services/distribution-and-configuration-center |title=Distribution and Configuration Center – Connection |publisher=Pcconnection.com |date=2016-06-08 |accessdate=2016-09-09}}</ref>

== Marketing ==
PC Connection was known for magazine ads featuring illustrations of [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] [[Raccoon|raccoons]] (and occasionally, other animals) living in a fictionalized version of Marlow. The ads were developed by the New Hampshire-based advertising agency Church and Main, intending to symbolize a goal to make computing less "scary", and play up the rural location of PC Connection's headquarters.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=McCracken |first=Harry |author-link=Harry McCracken |date=2025-04-22 |title=The raccoons who made computer magazine ads great |url=https://technologizer.com/home/2025/04/22/pc-connection-ads-raccoons/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Technologizer by Harry McCracken |language=en-US}}</ref>

The agency's copywriter David Blistein was influenced by an edition of the children's novel ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' illustrated by [[E. H. Shepard]], and hired local illustrator Erick Ingraham to develop the concept further. Ingraham explained that the choice of raccoons as a mascot was likely because of their dexterity, as it allowed them to be portrayed operating PCs and other peripherals. Ingraham's illustrations and the raccoons would be a regular fixture of PC Connection's marketing through the 1980s, with the company's catalogs featuring more fantastical artwork. The raccoon imagery began to be downplayed by the company in the mid-1990s, due to changes in marketing practices amid the commodification of the PC industry, growing focus on business customers, and its shift away from magazine advertising to focus on ecommerce.<ref name=":0" />

==Acquisitions==

In 1999, Connection purchased ComTeq Federal, a Maryland-based company serving the computing needs of federal government agencies, including the Navy, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, the National Security Agency, and Internal Revenue Service.<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnston |first=Margret |url=https://fcw.com/articles/1999/07/11/pc-connection-buys-comteq-fed.aspx |title=PC Connection buys ComTeq Fed |publisher=FCW |date=1999-07-11 |accessdate=2016-09-09}}</ref> Renamed GovConnection, Inc., the subsidiary serves all government and education customers.

In January 2000, Connection announced the agreement to acquire Merisel Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/18811952/pc-connection-acquires-merisels-call-center.htm |title= PC Connection Acquires Merisel's Call Center |date=January 4, 2000 |accessdate=Nov 20, 2013}}</ref>

In 2002, Connection acquired MoreDirect, a Florida-based company specializing in Web-based eProcurement.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131220234402/http://business.highbeam.com/137451/article-1G1-89395107/pc-connection-pc-mall-make-acquisitions PC Connection, PC Mall Make Acquisitions. (PC Connection Inc. acquires MoreDirect)(PC Mall Inc. acquires Pacific Business Data Systems Inc.) (Brief Article) ]</ref>

In 2005, Connection purchased the business and selected assets of Amherst Technologies, Inc., a New Hampshire-based IT provider.<ref>[http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/172303244/pc-connection-wins-bidding-war-for-amherst-technologies.htm PC Connection Wins Bidding War For Amherst Technologies]</ref>

In 2011, Connection acquired ValCom Technologies, a technology services company in the Chicago metropolitan area.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110910071240/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9M17SGO0.htm PC Connection buys ValCom Technology for $11.6M – BusinessWeek]</ref>

In 2016, Connection acquired Softmart, a supplier of hardware and software.<ref>[http://www.sb.marketwatch.com/story/pc-connection-acquires-softmart-2016-05-27 PC Connection Acquires Softmart – MarketWatch]</ref>

In 2016, Connection acquired GlobalServe, a global reseller.

==References==

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:PC Connection}}
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:Companies based in Merrimack, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the Nasdaq]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Computer companies of the United States]]

PC Connection - Revision history

imported>Aadirulez8: v2.05 - Fix errors for CW project (Spelling and typography)