1993
Evergreen Enterprises was born when Company President Ting Xu and her parents started creating flags in their garage and sold them at the Virginia State Fair.
1994
The business grew, and by the next year Evergreen had 10 flag kiosks in Virginia and North Carolina and participated in 40 trade shows. Ting Xu's brother, James Xu, joined the business and dedicated the next two years to helping build the company.
1995
Evergreen expanded its product offerings and entered the ceramics business. Frank Qiu, Ting Xu's husband, sold his successful insurance agency and came onboard to spearhead the company's advancement. Evergreen saw several key milestones this year:
- first wholesaler show
- first gift show in Atlanta
- first catalog (4 pages)
- first warehouse (5,000 s.f.)
1996
The company broke the $1 million mark in sales, continuing to focus on developing their inventory, product design, importing, and distribution.
1997
Evergreen started further expansion by hiring more office staff and salespeople. Logistics and quality of product materials were key focus areas, and the company introduced three-dimensional flags to the marketplace.
2000
Due to its phenomenal growth, Evergreen Enterprises doubled its staff and cultivated more relationships with manufacturing facilities abroad to accommodate customer demand.
2002
The company established a new logistics facility in China.
2003
Evergreen broke ground for a new warehouse storage facility at their corporate headquarters in Richmond, VA to allow for faster shipping response times for their customers. The Cypress Home brand of ceramic kitchen decor was also launched.
2004
The acquisition of Ashford Court, a home textile manufacturer, brought Evergreen into a new product arena including bedding, pillows, throws and tabletop textiles. The addition of Ashford Court to the Cypress Home line advanced Evergreen into the entire home.
2005
Working with local artists and the city of Virginia Beach, VA, Evergreen aided in the design and manufacture a massive statue of King Neptune to be displayed on the Virginia Beach boardwalk, commemorating the long-running Neptune Festival. It is the largest bronze statue built since the Statue of Liberty.
2006
With a commitment to quality products, Evergreen acquired Cape Craftsmen, LLC and planned to grow the Cape Craftsmen business beyond its foundational accent furniture with the addition of textiles and other home accents.
2007
The company introduced its newly renovated business-to-business online resource center www.myevergreen.com, giving their customers access to over 5,000 items that could be ordered online 24/7. The site included built-in functions such as order tracking and order history that helped customers manage their Evergreen business.
2008
A West Coast flagship showroom at the World Market Center in Las Vegas was opened, and Evergreen partnered with full line distributors to sell products in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The Just the Right Shoe line launched with the help of its creator, Lorraine Vail, and under Evergreen's brand expanded its distribution worldwide.
2009
A record year for sales in Evergreen's history, the company continued to move forward, acquiring New Creative Enterprises. This acquisition incorporated NCE into the Evergreen brand portfolio and allowed for the introduction of other Evergreen brands to established NCE customers.
2010
With more than 100 territory managers nationwide and an expansion of their Atlanta showroom in order to offer retailers a dedicated flag and garden showroom, Evergreen continues to grow with the acquisition of Plow & Hearth, a multichannel retailer with Virginia roots.
2011
The company expanded internationally through the creation of Evergreen Enterprises Canada and established its first direct sales force outside the U.S. Additionally, the successful acquisition of Team Sports America more than tripled Evergreen's licensed sports product offering. Evergreen opened a new Memphis distribution center as well as renovated and expanded its Richmond headquarters.
