Staples Promotional Products (asi/120601), the second-largest distributor in the promotional products industry, could soon have a new multi-billion-dollar network through which to sell its services.

The Overland Park, KS-based distributorship’s parent company, Staples Inc., recently acquired Essendant, a wholesale distributor of office supplies with revenue reportedly north of $5 billion. Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, owns Staples.

In a Q&A interview with OPI this week, Essendant President Harry Dochelli said that “one of the early things we’re going to launch for our dealers is Staples Promotional Products. … That’s a segment we haven’t had a chance to participate in until now.”

Harry Dochelli, Essendant

There are some logistical complications to overcome, such as a Federal Trade Commission-imposed firewall that seeks to protect confidential information on Essendant customers from Staples Inc., which has often competed against those customers in the past.  “Processes like how we’re going to interact with Staples Promotional Products to create a firewall between our customers’ data and the Staples team has caused us to do some more IT work so that we can protect the data in an appropriate way,” Dochelli told OPI. “It’s not stopping us, but it’s just another example of doing the right thing and protecting our customers’ data from anybody that’s not inside the firewall.”

Despite such challenges, Essendant appears set on incorporating Staples Promo products and services into its offerings. Clearly, that spells opportunity for Staples Promotional Products to expand its potential sales reach. Counselor contacted Staples Promotional Products about the burgeoning opportunity, but hasn’t heard back.

In September, Staples Promotional Products named Matthew Eckhouse as its new top executive. Eckhouse, whose title is vice president and general manager, took over for longtime Staples Promo leader Richard Witaszak, who is no longer with the company.

Matthew Eckhouse, Staples Promotional Products

With estimated 2018 North American promotional product revenue of $607.7 million, Staples Promotional Products ranked second on Counselor’s latest list of the largest distributors in the industry. The company’s five-year average sales growth is 4.4%. Staples Promo was the largest distributor by revenue as recently as 2017, but has been overtaken by 4imprint (asi/197045) over the last two years.