Some 25 years ago, Memo Kahan and Walter Hill, Jr. met while working at the same promo company – Idea Man. It was the beginning of an amicable business relationship that’s bearing fruit in 2018: Kahan’s Top 40 distributorship, PromoShop (asi/300446), announced today that it’s entering into a strategic partnership with Icon Blue (asi/229398), a Los Angeles, CA-headquartered distributor that industry leader Hill helms as CEO.

“We are most excited and honored to be working with the professional staff from Icon Blue,” says Kahan, owner of Los Angeles-based PromoShop. “Walter created an amazing organization with people who get it and are winners. Thank you, Walter, for entrusting us with part of your legacy.”

Memo Kahan of PromoSho

Per terms of the deal, sales for PromoShop and Icon Blue will merge. Icon Blue sales and staff members will move to PromoShop’s LA location. “The partnership will be identified to

Icon Blue clients as Icon Blue, a PromoShop Partner,” the companies said in a statement.

Hill said he and his team are excited about the burgeoning business relationship. “PromoShop holds many of the same values Icon Blue has practiced for 20 years,” said Hill, who won Counselor’s Marvin Spike Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. “Together, both award-winning companies will create a stronger value proposition for our customers. We look forward to servicing Icon Blue clients with an increased bandwidth of services in marketing and creative services, as well as global sourcing and logistics.”

Walter Hill, Jr. of Icon Blue

Echoing the sentiments, Kahan said the partnership will prove mutually beneficial, with each firm bringing strengths that will bolster the other. “The synergies between the two organizations feel natural,” Kahan said.

Founded 20 years ago, Icon Blue offers branded merchandise solutions to support client goals in the areas of sales promotion, marketing and special events. The company ranked 13th on Counselor’s annual Best Places to Work list this year. Three years ago, Hill won the Marvin Spike Lifetime Achievement Award for his success and contributions to the promo industry. “If you create a point of difference and stick with it, you will be successful,” Hill told Counselor at the time. “You have to know how to use the right products and be an idea resource.”

With reported 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $45.8 million, PromoShop ranked 38th on Counselor’s latest list of the largest distributors in the industry. Founded in 1998, PromoShop has nine offices and five satellite sales teams throughout the U.S. and Canada in addition to its Los Angeles headquarters. PromoShop has also appeared on Counselor’s Best Places to Work list.