Our history

Hallmark Building Supplies, Inc. traces its beginnings to founder O. Joseph Balthazor (Joe), current President and Chief Executive Officer. In 1974, Joe was Vice President of Sales for Lakeside Plywood, a building supplies company in the Milwaukee area. When Lakeside went out of business that year, Joe and another former Lakeside employee decided to launch their own company.

With the trust, respect and commitment from Consoweld Dura Beauty and DuPont™ Corian^®, Hallmark Building Supplies, Inc. was incorporated in October, 1974. From modest office and warehouse space on Mill Road and 48th Street in Milwaukee, Hallmark began distributing Dura Beauty in Wisconsin and Corian^® in the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area.

Providing a reliable source of supply has always been one of Hallmark’s primary functions. However, since Corian^® was a new product in the mid-1970s, finding a reliable source of fabrication was difficult. To ensure reliable supply, Hallmark began fabricating Corian^® countertops in 1976. As Hallmark built product demand in the Milwaukee area, the supply of quality fabricators became plentiful and the company returned to focus solely on wholesale distribution.

In 1981, at the request of DuPont, Hallmark expanded into Minnesota and opened a branch office in Eden Prairie. Corian^® was the sole product in Minnesota until September, 1982 when Consoweld’s Dura Beauty was added.

Hallmark was awarded the DuPont™ Tyvek^® distributorship in Southeastern Wisconsin in 1988. Based on Hallmark’s success with Tyvek^® in Wisconsin, DuPont asked Hallmark to take over the Missouri and metropolitan St. Louis territory in 1989 and the Kansas territory in 1990.

By the mid-1990s, Hallmark had sustained significant growth and had evolved into a company that was operating under two different business models: a commodity model, characterized by the laminate business, and a branded model, characterized by Corian^® and Tyvek^®. The commodity market dictated low prices and no value-added services, while the branded business focused on brand image, marketing, training and a highly-educated sales force committed to assisting customers and driving product business.

In 1996, Hallmark divested the laminate line and all accessories associated with the commodity model. Instead, Hallmark chose to operate on a branded business model, strictly focused on bringing an integrated system of marketing, sales and distribution of branded building materials to the residential and commercial markets it serves. Hallmark began its future under the new business model with DuPont™ Corian^® and DuPont™ Tyvek® as its only products.

Hallmark saw history repeat itself in May 2000. DuPont introduced a new product, DuPont™ Zodiaq^® quartz surfaces, and Hallmark was one of the first distributors to pilot the launch and inventory product. Hallmark recognized the niche this product fit in the marketplace; however, there was not a reliable source of supply. Manufacturing countertops with Zodiaq required a completely different set of equipment and expertise, and only a few of Hallmark’s existing fabricators wanted to enter the hard surfaces market. Knowing that a reliable source of supply was mandatory for a product of this nature, Hallmark created a separate company, Pollux Manufacturing, Inc., in 2003. Pollux is a wholesale, high volume, state-of-the-art hard surfaces manufacturing company and operates one of the only facilities of its kind in the United States.

In 2005, Hallmark purchased the assets of a concrete countertop manufacturer and launched Apollo Manufacturing, LLC. Initial manufacturing began in Milwaukee and moved to Minneapolis in 2006. Hallmark also began to carry Soterra Natural Stone Surfacing System products in 2006.

Hallmark expanded its offerings to include Nichiha fiber cement siding and Quiet Solution sound proofing systems on the Construction Products side of the business in 2007. In 2008, Hallmark suspended the manufacture of concrete countertops through Apollo Manufacturing and eliminated the Soterra Natural Stone Surfacing System product line.