Crossmark

Crossmark, Inc. is a sales and marketing services company that operates within the consumer goods industry. The company was established in 1905¹ by Willis Johnson and E. Leslie Hunt in Fort Smith, Arkansas as a provision supply point for groups traveling to the Oklahoma Territory. Crossmark contributes research and data to the Food Marketing Institute. The company serves grocery, mass, club, drug, convenience store, and home improvement channels. Acquired in 2024, Crossmark is a subsidiary of Acosta Group, a parent brand that unifies several agencies under a single enterprise structure.

Crossmark, Inc. is a sales and marketing services company that operates within the consumer goods industry. The company was established in 1905 by Willis Johnson and E. Leslie Hunt in Fort Smith, Arkansas as a provision supply point for groups traveling to the Oklahoma Territory. Crossmark contributes research and data to the Food Marketing Institute. The company serves grocery, mass, club, drug, convenience store, and home improvement channels. Acquired in 2024, Crossmark is a subsidiary of Acosta Group, a parent brand that unifies several agencies under a single enterprise structure. ==History== The company was founded in 1905 as Johnson and Hunt Merchandise Brokers in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The company began as a provision supply point for groups traveling to the Oklahoma Territory and evolved into a national sales and marketing agency over the next century. In 1914, the company was renamed as Willis Johnson & Company and operations moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1943, President Roosevelt named Willis Johnson Sr. to the National Office of Price and Administration, a two-year assignment. In 1944, the W.L. Gordon Company formed in Dallas, Texas. In 1953 the Phillips Brokerage Company was created in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1977, Johnson and Hunt Merchandise Brokers rebranded to SALES MARK and began travelling across the country to rotate products on shelves. In 2017, Walmart selected Crossmark as one of five Preferred Services Providers (PSP) to be part of its “Merchandising Services Program”. Only preferred service providers are authorized and approved to perform merchandising services in Walmart’s stores on behalf of the retailer or its suppliers. ==Recognition== In 2010 and 2011, InformationWeek ranked Crossmark on its list of most-innovative users of business technology. ==References==

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